The Son of Cold Harbour Chronicles
by EarthScraper
Summary: The Son of Cold Harbour Chronicles follows Artorius, a son of Molag Bal, in his adventures across Skyrim and the realms of Oblivion. Rated M for Violence and Swearing and later things. Cover Image made by Spirit-Alu. I only own my OCs, nothing else. (Discontinued due to lack of reviews)
1. Domination Prolouge

**A.N. Finally, the new version is complete, I hope you enjoy it, if not, then tough, 'cause there is no way in hell I'm doing this all over again**

'Are you sure about this, my boy?' the elder Dunmer asked. His voice echoed in the old, decrepit church that smelled of an under croft, probably because the 'under croft' was right next to them. The old stained glass windows had lost their luster, cracks and fissure spoilt the fine glass work, rendering them ugly and ancient. A young man sat in front of the rag wearing Dunmer. He nodded at the question asked.

'Never been so sure in my life.' He answered in a strong voice; not too deep to be gruff, and a tinge of humour could be detected from his tone, despite him being serious in his answer. He wore black armour that covered him from the neck down; a gift granted to him by a certain Daedric prince, a deep blue cloak that hung over his right arm that reached his thighs. His face was strong and Nordic, but had features that couldn't be traced to any races on Nirn; his eyes in particular had a strange ethereal grey tone to them, resembling a fierce storm. His hair was a bright shade of blonde, almost white, that was cut short and rough, reaching the middle of his neck, unlike the common Nord of Skyrim, but like them, he had pale, fair skin. His hands were crossed over the hilt of his great sword, which like his armour, was completely black, Daedric runes lined up from tip to cross guard, and glowed a deathly crimson. A skull decorated the cross guard, with bright red gems instead of eyes, which also glowed a dark red colour.

The Dunmer sat next to the warrior, running his fingers through his long grey beard. 'This is no ordinary Daedra you are dealing with, Artorius.' The Dunmer said softly. The man next to him, Artorius, sat back while sighing heavily.

'You're right, but that isn't going to stop me now.' He replied. The Dunmer handed Artorius a large sack, its contents glowing with a fiery hue.

'Is this it?' Artorius asked while taking the large sack from the priest.

'No, I want you to feed it to my goats.' The priest joked, and then followed with good-hearted laugh. Artorius raised an eyebrow, before joining in with the priest's hysterics.

'All right, I'd best be off.' Artorius said while slugging the sack over his shoulder.

'Good luck, my son. May the Gods bless you.' The Dunmer said while grasping the warrior's shoulder. Artorius gave a nod and a wave, then set of for Mount Anthor.

'Are you ready to face your father?' A voice came from behind.

'Of course I am, Dom. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here, would I?'

'Domination. My name is Domination.' The voice corrected.

'I know, Dom, no need to tell me a second time.' The voice groaned in annoyance.

'I cannot wait for you to die, sweet silence is underrated.'

'Aw, have some faith, Dom! We'll succeed in this ordeal!' Artorius chirped happily, trying to lighten the mood.

'We? There is no 'we'. It's just you in this stupid quest of yours.' The sword said bluntly.

'Come on, Dom! There is no 'I' in Team Artorius!'

'…Yes there is.' Domination said just as coldly as before. Artorius just sighed in defeat, and carried on climbing up the mountain. Soon, the ritual site the Dunmer priest had set up soon came into sight. Various runes were dotted around the site, glowing dimly in the snow. A roughly made stone circle sat at the centre of the site.

Artorius took out the contents of the bag, a large, glowing ball that radiated dark energy. The orb was placed on the stone circle in the centre, and rose into the sky, the glowing energy getting progressively stronger as the minutes passed. 'Now we wait, I guess.' Artorius said while sitting down. His peace was short lived, however, when a beastly roar shook the earth, making some of the rocks fall out of place. A great looming figure blotted out the sun, and started to circle above the ritual site, still roaring angrily at Artorius. With an earth shaking crash, the dragon landed directly in front of the ebony clad warrior, teeth bared, snarling like the rabid animal that it was.

Artorius lifted his left hand and gripped the handle of Domination before saying, without a hint of fear in his voice, and a smile.

'Here we go.'


	2. Domination Chapter 1

A loud snapping noise rang in Artorius' ear as he dodged cleanly to the side. With a deadly swipe of its claws, the dragon raked stone and ice from where Artorius had just been standing before he jumped high into the air, an impressive feat for someone who wears heavy armour. A jet of fire erupted forth from the dragon's maw, melting the ice and scorching the earth. Another set of swift evasions dodged and onslaught of teeth and claws. A tail swipe caught Artorius off guard, and was sent across the mountain top, skidding to a halt. Amazingly, he was barely harmed, despite the fact he had nearly a ton of muscle smashing into him at a considerable speed.

The dragon was not yet finished with him, and sent another stream of fire at its adversary. Another swift dodge began to enrage the dragon, and its fire became wild and untamed, scorching anything in the vicinity. Luckily, Artorius was not in the vicinity, but above it, casually sitting on a rocky outcrop, waiting for the dragon's rampage to subside. Ice and snow had melted to form a large pool of water. The dragon's rage finally died down, leaving it tired and spent of energy. It breathed long and heavy breaths, and it's legs shook from fatigue. Despite it being an open target, Artorius continued to rest on the rocky out crop, hands behind his head.

'What are you waiting for? Just kill it already!' Domination said impatiently. Artorius shook his head and continued to relax on the rock.

'Killing time.' He said casually. 'Got to wait for the portal to open.'

'It is you dolt.' Domination retorted. Lifting an eyelid open, Artorius saw the gaping, orange hole that led to Molag's domain. With a sigh, Artorius got up from his seat and made his way past the tired dragon, who was feebly trying to bite him as he moved towards the portal. With a deep breath, Artorius stepped through the portal, and entered his father's domain.

As soon as Artorius entered the Oblivion realm, the air decreased rapidly in temperature, and became extremely heavy, making it difficult to breath. The wind bit at Artorius skin, making him shiver and causing his eyes to water. The sky, strangely, was on fire, which is strange because the air was so cold, one might think it could _freeze _fire. The sun was hid behind the infernal veil, only red streaks of dim light escaped occasionally, before being forced back by the flames. No grass or vegetation grew, and in its place, poisonous sludge swirled around a path of charred stone that led to a black tower that pierced the sky. Blood stains and body parts littered the floor, some of them had rotted away, some looked freshly cut. Screams of tortured souls filled the air, echoing through the barren wasteland.

'Welcome to Cold Harbour.' said Domination.

'What a shit hole.' Replied Artorius.

'That's it? That's all you can say?'

'That and it looks like a really crappy Imperial City.' He added. Domination simply groaned, and returned to being silent. Artorius took a few steps forward, but halted at the sound of bubbling sludge to the side of him. A noxious gas was released from the bubbles, and from it, beasts came forth. The beasts hissed viciously, their humongous jaws snapped at the cold air, their claws dug into the black cobble, making it crack and shatter. They had a body of a well built scaled man, but the head of a crocodile, their forked tongues tasted the freezing air, and hissed when they smelt Artorius, who had draw his sword in preparation. The four beasts started to circle Artorius, jaws snapping at him, claws scraping the black stone, sending sharp scraping noises to echo in the air. Artorius donned a big, ridiculous smile, and thought of a really good joke.

'Oh snap.' He laughed.

Well, at least he found it funny.

The crocodiles? Not so much.

A poisoned talon slashed at Artorius, only for it to be countered quickly, and flew into the sludge pool. The first crocodile rubbed the stump were the talon once was, but because of its foolishness and idleness, had its head cleaved of, and sent rolling across the ground. Another crocodile launched itself at Artorius, slashing at him, but again was parried by Domination, not once, but twice, before being disembowelled with a low slashing motion, spilling its steaming guts onto the charred stone.

The next Daedroth snapped its jaws onto Domination, trying to rip it from Artorius grip, but to no avail, and it was sent up into air, and was followed by Artorius, who slammed Domination into the Daedroth's skull, bringing them both down to the ground with a mighty crash, splitting the stone beneath them. The last Daedroth leapt at Artorius, who tried to swing Domination, but to his annoyance, was stuck in the ground with the broken corpse. The Daedroth closed in, its claws nearly reaching Artorius, it snarled in delight as Artorius tried to yank the sword out of the stone, but to no avail.

The beast swiped at Artorius, tearing through the air with alarming speed. Just as it thought it would get him, a golden streak painted the air, and impaled the Daedroth through the stomach, before bursting into flames, and reduced to ash, which then dissipated into the air. Giving the golden katana a fancy, unneeded twirl before returning it into its holster, Artorius went to successively retrieve Domination from the charred ground, which let out a huff in the process. 'What's the matter with you?' Artorius asked. 'You're not…jealous, are you?'

'Me? Jealous of that pathetic excuse for a weapon!? Don't be ridiculous.' Domination snapped harshly. Artorius got out the golden katana and observed its beautiful golden shine.

'Be nice to Goldbrand, what'd she ever do to you?' Artorius said while walking towards the big black doors that served as the entrance to the tower. 'Don't worry, you'll always have a special place in my heart, friend.' Artorius said teasingly.

'Hn' was all the sword said in reply. Artorius made his way towards the black wooden doors that served as the entrance. Like everything else in this freezing wasteland, it was charred and cracked, and barely served its purpose anymore. With a forceful kick, the door flew of its hinges and landed with a crash in the centre of the hallway, with Artorius casually walking over it, making it crack and splinter beneath his boots.

'He seriously needs to renovate this place.' Chuckled Artorius.

'What were you thinking?' Domination asked.

'I was thinking less blood on the walls, no body parts sprawled everywhere…' he began to reply, only to be interrupted by the sentient sword.

'I meant why did you come here? What is your purpose?' Artorius paused for a second, eyes looking to his side in thought.

'My old man has been missing my birthdays.' He finally said.

'Seriously?' The sword said, slightly shocked by his answer. 'That's it?'

'You're a sword, like you care why I'm here.' Artorius replied coldly. Domination fell silent, seemingly insulted by the remark just made. The warrior continued down the long hallway that was surrounded by pillars, all bearing bodies of torture victims. 'Who could possibly worship this guy?' Artorius asked.

'Artorius, look around you.' Domination cut in coolly. In his idleness, Artorius managed to get himself surrounded by a group of Dremora, all clad in Daedric armour that glowed like Domination does, all wielding different daedric weapons. One of them steeped forth, black teeth seething at the warrior in front of him.

'Time to die, you filthy half breed maggot!' he screamed. Artorius, completely unfazed, shook his head.

'Come on, now you're just being nasty.' Artorius replied. The Dremora screamed at him again, and launched itself at Artorius, who made quick work of him, and split him in two with a rising slash, sending the torso and legs to go in opposite directions. He was still surrounded by three more Dremora, all ready to kill him in cold blood. The next Dremora took a defensive position, not making the mistake of his now dead comrade. He lunged slightly, trying to startle Artorius, but to no avail, since Artorius has nerves of steel, and simply stood there with an eyebrow raised.

'Have you done pissing around yet?' he asked before smashing the flat side of his sword into the Dremoras' face, blood and gore coming out of its mouth. The last two Dremora acted together and attacked Artorius, who took a defensive posture, and began countering the blows from the demons. They circled Artorius while attacking him, trying to get his exposed back. The Dremora in front swung its sword in a wide arc, aiming for Artorius' head, but was countered with amazing dexterity, and gutted in an instant. Its armour made a metallic screech as Domination cut through it. Turning around quickly, Artorius deflected a swing from the Dremora who managed to sneak behind him, and lopped of its sword arm, making it screech in agony, trying feebly to stop the bleeding. With another quick slash, Artorius sliced of its other arm, making it screech even louder in pain. With another low sweep, Artorius severed the legs of the demon, making the screams of suffering echo throughout the hall. Artorius brought the blade down so that it rested on the demons shoulder, which looked at him while seething in anger. 'Hey, what's up? You're looking a bit…' The Dremora looked at him dead in the eye, which showing a glint of amusement.

'…stumped.' With that last remark, the Dremoras head was separated from its body, and landed on the stone floor with a definite thud, along with the remains of the torso. Artorius continued on through the corridor, when a voice grunted from behind.

'Show-off.'


	3. Domination Chapter 2

The tower was huge. Like, really huge. After half an hour of walking through various corridors and stair ways, Artorius was only about half way up the tower, and it got worse as it went up. 'Why, why, why? Why did the divines bless me with a ridiculously good sense of smell?' Artorius groaned while placing a hand over his nose. Domination ignored the annoying question that was being repeated ever since Artorius had entered the first stairwell. Entering another hallway, Artorius stopped and sighed heavily at the length of it.

'Oh come on! Does this guy have thing for giant hallways or something?' he groaned. Artorius decided that it would be easier to jog down the hallway instead of walking. About halfway down the corridor, Artorius stopped dead, peering at the shadows in the distance.

'What is it?' Domination asked.

'I swear those shadows just…' he answered. As he did, men and women crept forth from the shadows, all wearing blood stained clothes and electricity cackling from their hands. Pure white fangs hung over their bottom lips, some sets larger then others. All had their amber eyes focused on Artorius, hungry for his blood. One of them stepped forth, slightly more bestial then the others.

'Our Lord has something to say to you, he says…' it spoke.

'Yeah, well I've got something to say to him too.' Artorius interrupted, the vampire bared his fangs in anger.

'How dare you! I'll tear of your…' it hissed.

'Dom?' Artorius interrupted again, this time the vampire did not get angry, but stepped back in surprise. The noise Domination made when shifting forms made Artorius smile. In a flash of black light, Domination had shifted from a claymore to a scythe, still keeping its skull motif and black sheen.

'Time for a change of pace.' Domination finally said after transforming. Artorius smiled as he unsheathed the newly transformed weapon, and pointed it at the now frightened vampire.

'I'm guessing you're the first that wants to die, again.' Artorius replied, laughing as he did so. Before the vampire could react, Artorius lunged at the vampire, cleaving it in two diagonally, blood and gore spurted from the separated vampire. 'Who's next!?' Artorius shouted at the vampires, making them all back off in dire fear, some even left the pack, and went back to hide in the shadows. The remaining vampires charged forward, lightning and blood magic being sprayed at the ebony-clad warrior. Unfortunately for them, Artorius was far too powerful and fast for them. He began by spinning Domination rapidly while running at full speed, splitting the vampires that got too close into various pieces, spraying dark blood all over the walls, steaming in the cold air of the hallway. While crouching low, Artorius span the scythe above his head like a spinning top, slicing and dicing more vampiric flesh that landed on the floor with a soft thud. A vampire, who some how managed to dodge the onslaught of slashes, lunged forward at Artorius, hoping to catch him off guard.

However, Artorius did something the vampire didn't expect, and lunged as well. With a sharp turn of his body, he nimbly dodged the dagger swung at him, and impaled Domination into its back, slicing bone and the little muscle it had left, and exited through its chest. The vampire didn't even scream as it bled to death quickly. Shaking the vampire of the blade of the scythe, Artorius made his way over to the last two vampires, who had backed off against a wall that was covered in blood. The vampires trembled with fear at the sight of the carnage that Artorius had just created in a matter of seconds.

'Please don't kill us!' One pleaded.

'Well, you're already dead, so I don't see the problem.' Artorius snapped back, scythe in hand.

'No, please don't send us to the 'Waters', the pain…the pain!' the other said while on her knees, holding Artorius' hand. With a sharp yank, she fell to the floor and let go of his hand.

'Go on, go away.' Artorius said while walking over her. The vampires crawled back to the shadows, eventually out of sight. Artorius continued through the blood stained hallway, making the blood splash beneath his boots.

'You should have killed them.' Domination said while changing back to its original great sword form.

'They surrendered while the others fought; there was no need to kill them.' Artorius replied. The warrior carried on through the tower, uttering various curses as he ascended the tower, holding his hand against his nose.

'Artorius…what are you going to do after this ordeal is over?' Domination asked.

'Settle down, marry a nice red head, have a bunch of kids, get a dog, you know, the usual thing a man does after a long journey.' Artorius replied while smiling.

'Aren't you a bit…young to settle down?' Domination pointed out.

'Twenty-three is a good age to settle down.' Artorius answered. 'Besides, what can I do?'

'Have you ever considered becoming a freelancer?' Domination asked.

'Hmm…' Artorius scratched his chin in though. He did so for a few minutes, before answering. 'I'll think about it.'

The climb to the top of the tower took another half an hour, but eventually, Artorius and Domination arrived at the pinnacle of the tower. To his surprise, Artorius found a temple at the top of the tower, and like the tower before it, was completely burnt and charred, with blood stains decorating its steps to the entrance of the tower. The air was even colder then before, but thankfully, wasn't as thick as on the ground, so it was much easier to breath. The screams of torment and suffering seemed to get louder, and a lot more frequent.

'What the hell is this?' Artorius said while raising his arms. 'The bastard's got a temple!?'

'His followers worship him, so it makes sense.' Domination answered.

'Who'd worship a rapist?' Artorius asked. Looking ahead, he saw a lone figure standing in the distance. The man wore exquisite clothes that were dyed a blood red, with a black cape that hung close behind him. His hair was swept backwards into a ponytail that nearly reached his back. Unlike the other vampires, this man had no beastly features about him, expect his angry amber eyes that bored into Artorius, who was standing still and staring right back at him. 'So, why are you here blood-sucker? You his bitch or something?'

No answer.

'Ok, then if you don't mind, I'll be moving on through.' Artorius said while walking slowly towards the entrance to the temple, eyebrow raised at the vampire, who was still standing perfectly still.

'Halt!' it suddenly shouted. 'You shall not defile these holy grounds!'

'Huh, I thought the Khajiit caught your tongue' Artorius said while looking at the temple. 'Holy ground? And I thought Vampires were good at seeing things. This, as you can see, is a perfect example, of a shithole.'

'Enough, I will kill you, and be greatly rewarded by my Lord!' Harkon shouted while unsheathing his black and red katana. 'The Son of Cold Harbour's head will make a fine trophy!' he bellowed. Gripping Domination by the handle, Artorius lifted his right hand, and beckoned with his finger.

'Come and get it!' he taunted, greatly enjoying the tension between them. The vampire gave a blood curdling laugh, and readied itself for a fight.

Unsheathing Domination, Artorius also readied himself bringing the sword up to his battle stance, and said quietly while smiling, 'This is going to be fun.'


	4. Domination Chapter 3

For a once, Artorius was the first to make a move, and leapt into the air, plunging Domination into the ground were Harkon stood before dodging out of the way. Harkon countered with a quick set of slashes, forcing Artorius to take to the defensive. Lightning forked from the vampire's fingertips, forcing Artorius to dodge backwards while blocking the lightning with his sword. Lunging forward, Harkon unleashed another barrage of swipes, forcing Artorius to stay on the defensive. With a mighty swing, Harkon forced Artorius to skid along the stone roof top. With a roar Harkon leapt into the air, plunging the sword towards Artorius. A loud clash between metal on metal rang through out the freezing air, the sheer force of the blow rose rock and debris from the ground, which also cracked from the force of the blow.

Eventually, the dust settled, and the fight had stopped. Harkon opened his orange eyes with a malicious smile, and went to retrieve his blade, but to his horror, it was clamped by a large gauntlet, the skull that decorated seemed to stare at him with a glowing crimson gaze, boring into his soul. A sharp kick to the gut sent Harkon sprawling across the ground, coughing and spluttering black blood that splashed as it hit the black stone. Peering up, Harkon saw his sword clamped in Artorius hand. Domination had once again shifted, this time into a set of battle gauntlets and greaves, still maintaining the motif as before, like the scythe and greatsword before it. With great ease, Artorius crushed the blade of the katana, and tossed the handle of the sword over the edge of the tower.

'My turn.' The warrior said before dashing at full speed into Harkon. A barrage of punches and kicks were unleashed onto Harkon, forcing his bones to break and shatter from the force of the blows. With a roar, Artorius smashed Harkon into the ground face first. Blood and bone spurted out of his nose and mouth, spilling onto the ground, but he still managed to rise again, with great difficulty however. Artorius roundhouse kicked Harkon in the head, sending him flying backwards into the temple door, cracking from the force of the blow. The entire archway collapsed on top of the vampire, creating dust and rubble to rise into the air.

'Hn, that was a bit disappointing.' Artorius sighed. 'I was expecting a little more then that.' Artorius started to walk over to the collapsed archway, when a grey, clawed arm burst from the stone, but the body that followed it was far more terrifying to behold. Harkon had grown to at least eight foot tall, arms and legs clawed and oozing with poison. The vampire's skin had curled and greyed, making his already big muscles seem huge, as if they were about to tear through the skin. Bat wings had grown from Harkon's back, weak-looking and scrawny. Harkon's fiery eyes had become as black as the abyss, and were staring tight at Artorius, who had his fists up, ready, for another fight.

'What's wrong?' Harkon snarled. 'Have you got nothing smart to say? Got nothing absolutely hilarious that I MUST hear? Well!?' he said while laughing. Artorius shrugged before answering.

'Then for my next joke… ah, screw it.' With that remark, Artorius leapt at the vampire lord foot first, Harkon swiftly dodged the foot, flying into the air as he did so, readying a spell in his hand that glowed a deep red. With a wave of his clawed hand, Harkon threw the ball of energy at Artorius, who countered by throwing a large piece of the rubble at the ball, creating a cloud of rock and dust. Harkon parted through the cloud, poisonous talons at the ready. The two fighters clashed with each other, gauntlet and claw countered each other, sending sparks and poison to spray around them. Harkon tried to swipe at Artorius' head, but was swiftly dodged, and countered with a powerful elbow strike to _his _head instead, forcing the vampire to stagger back while seething in pain. Domination shape shifted into a large war hammer, which then was used to smash Harkon into his stomach, forcing him to sail back into the air, while coughing up black blood, which trailed out of his mouth.

Harkon readied another red ball in his hand, and then fired it at Artorius again, who then reflected the red ball back at the vampire with the war hammer, forcing Harkon to move out of the way with little grace, wincing with pain.

'How the hell are you able to fly with those wings?' Artorius said while laughing at Harkon, who was staring at his storm grey eyes.

'Hn, you are just like he is.' Harkon said, stealing Artorius' laugh as he said so. Artorius had donned a frown, and winced his eyes at the vampire lord.

'You're wrong…' he said, while Domination transformed into a grappling chain. Artorius threw the hook at Harkon, impaling him in the chest, and dragged him down as he screamed in agony. Harkon feebly reached for the hook, trying to prise it out of his chest. Domination changed again, this time back into its scythe form, while Artorius gripped the handle. With great strength and speed, Artorius ripped Domination from Harkon's chest, ripping out organs and entrails, which spilled out onto the cold black stone, steaming slightly in the cold air. '…because unlike that black hearted bastard, I actually have a heart.' Artorius finished, while sheathing Domination, who had returned to its normal claymore form. Artorius was finally able to walk into the temple with out trouble now.

After a few minutes of removing the rubble that blocked the entrance, Artorius entered the pitch black temple. Only the sound of Artorius' footsteps gave the temple any sort of shape. The sounds bounced of the wall, making the temple seem quite small. The only other sound was the tinkering of chains, but no chains could be seen. Artorius continued through temple, noticing the strong sense of dread and fear that hung in the air. 'How does this guy see in the dark?' Artorius asked in a somewhat hushed voice. The sound of a stone triggering a mechanism agitated Artorius, gripping his sword in pure instinct. Torches around the room started to light up, that shone an evil purple colour, highlighting the now visible, bloody chains that hung down from the ceiling. 'Holy…' Artorius gasped, backing off slightly. He backed into a table, which clattered slightly, forcing him to turn around, hand still on the hilt of his sword. He gasped again, appalled at the sight of the various tools laid out on the table, getting more depraved as he look across the table.

'What the fuck goes on in here…?' Artorius whispered to him self, wide eyed and shocked. His gaze shifted from the tools, to the chains, and finally to something else. A blood stained stone slab sat in the centre of the room, and Artorius immediately knew what the purpose of this stone slab was, since the blood stains were all focused on one particular area.

'This…is where the Daughters of Cold Harbour are made.' Domination said solemnly. Artorius could already envision it. The helpless women being beaten and violated by him, who knows how many women's lives he has destroyed over his reign, perhaps it was best not to think about it. Artorius could envision his mother on the slab, being abused and hurt by him, crying and pleading for mercy, and yet he gave her none. Artorius was ripped from his visions by the sound of crying in the corner of the room. Artorius went over to investigate, warily, however. He saw a woman in the corner, young and pretty, with soft brown hair that reached her shoulders. She had very clear green eyes, ruined by tears of sadness and fear.

'Hey, are you…alright?' Artorius said softly while reaching out to her, only for his hand to pass through her, and touch the cold wall she had backed up to.

'Most women cannot escape the nightmare, I cannot blame them.' Domination said quietly before the apparition disappeared. Artorius stood up slowly, hanging his head slightly. 'This was all before your time, you must understand. There wasn't anything you could have done, my friend.' Artorius turned towards the hilt of his sword.

'Could you help me?' Artorius asked.

'It would be my pleasure.' Domination replied while shifting into the gauntlets and greaves again. Artorius smashed everything in the room, roaring in anger as he did so; he ripped every single chain that hung from the ceiling, smashed the various tools that sat on the table, before smashing the table afterwards, and finally completely demolished the stone slab that sat in the centre of the room, turning it into dust and rubble. After he had finished, Artorius let out a sigh of relief, and returned Domination to its sheath.

'That felt good.' Artorius finally said. Before he could continue, Domination spoke.

'Artorius…' he began, making Artorius turn his head towards the sword. 'Could I… could I come with you after this is done?' Artorius frowned at the question.

'I thought you hated my sense of humour? Besides, you wanted me to die, didn't you?' Artorius said as he planted the sword in front of him.

'…I know. But after seeing this room again, I realised how much better I am off with you.'

'Why's that?' Artorius asked.

'…Let's just say that after spending a couple of centuries watching helplessly as women are getting brutally tortured in front of you, you'd want to be with someone else.' Domination replied. Artorius noticed that the eyes of the skull dulled slightly, losing some of its glow. 'Besides, I fell much more useful in your hands, I feel as if I'm actually helping, so please, could I come with you?' the sword asked. Artorius sighed, and placed Domination back into its sheath.

'Oh alright, since you asked nicely.' Artorius laughed as he climbed the stairs towards the upper area of the temple.

'Thank you, my friend. Now, let us be done with this ordeal.' Domination said, boosting Artorius with energy.

'It's time to finish this.' He responded, and walked up the stairs towards the throne room.


	5. Domination Chapter 4

The 'throne room' wasn't a room at all, but a sort of small platform that held up the great throne made of bones of various victims who had crossed the Daedric Prince that ruled this realm. This was the coldest place in Cold Harbour; every breath was a plume of steam, until it dissipated high up in the air. The sky was very close; one could almost reach out and touch it. Like everything else in this damnable wasteland, the floor was charred and black, with black pillars dotted here and there, giving the flat, circular platform measly decoration.

Artorius' expectations of his father were crushed. A man with long, jet black hair that reached his waist adorned his head, which was incredibly pale. The man wore daedric armour, but unlike regular daedric armour, it glowed a poisonous green. He was a lot broader and taller then a regular man, thanks to his immense daedric strength, unlike Artorius, who was as tall and wide as an average twenty year old Nord, but as strong as his father. The man lifted his head and opened his eyes, which temporarily glowed a fierce red before changing to Artorius' eye colour, a storm grey that cackled with lightning, but a green lightning, in contrast to Artorius' blue. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, the mental battle for dominance and power could have lasted forever, but Artorius didn't have forever, and so began to speak to his father.

'You've been missing my birthdays, old man.' He began with a mischievous smile. The demon sighed and placed a leg on top of an arm rest.

'What's the problem? It seems Boethiah has been doing my job.' The demon replied in a smooth, deep voice, while looking at the Ebony Mail and Goldbrand. He noticed the hilt of Domination that stuck out behind Artorius.

'Ah, hello Domination, how have you been, under the command of a half-breed?'

'Quite well, thank you. I'm actually appreciated now.' Domination retorted, making Artorius smile. The demon tilted his head and sighed.

'What could you have been thinking? You choose this…piece of shit, to put it plainly, over me, Molag Bal, a god?' Molag asked, slightly irritated.

'My name is Artorius, not 'that-piece-of-shit'.' Artorius retorted. Molag simply scoffed at him.

'Artorius? That's a… terrible name. Personally, I would have called you something like Ebonarm the Second, so when I'm killing you it would be so much more satisfying.' He laughed as he said that, a laugh devoid of everything but sadistic pleasure. Molag sighed again after his small fit of laughter, and sat up while gripping his two axes that were slumped at his feet. 'What is your purpose here, Artorius?'

'Oh I don't know, how about revenge for tearing my mother's heart out!' Artorius retorted while unsheathing both of his weapons, and pointed the katana form of Domination at his father, who was hanging his head in disappointment.

'That's it?' he sighed. 'I've ripped the hearts out of many chests, and yet none have faced me until now. What makes you think that your mother is any different to them?' Molag asked, spinning his axes in his hands.

'You know what? There is no difference between my mother and the other women you raped. But I'm here, to not avenge my mother, but to avenge ALL the women you have tortured over the years! Call it retribution, it's got a better ring to it, don't you think?' Artorius said while still pointing Domination at Molag, who rolled his eyes before lifting his axes up.

'I've grown bored of arguing with you. Are we going to fight, or not?' he said while frowning at his son, who in response lifted Domination and Goldbrand into a battle stance. All of Cold Harbour seemed to prepare itself, the wind grew more intense and cold, the fiery glare of the sky darkened, and dark storm clouds swirled above, occasionally lightning pierced the air. The two Daedra lifted their weapons, and locked eyes once more. Both of them jumped into a sprint, weapons ready to clash with unstoppable force.

An earth shaking roar confirmed the clash of weapons at the top of the black tower. The force of the blow shattered the ground beneath the Daedra, sending rock and stone to be shot into the air. The almighty Goldbrand flung blades of white hot fire from its blade, slicing stone and cutting air. Molag blocked most of the blades fired, and hade to dodge another, which left him exposed, allowing Artorius, to hack and slash at him with great speed, forcing his back. However, Molag was an exceptional fighter as well, and after a few strikes from his son, he countered a swing, and kicked Artorius in his side, sending him sliding across the platform. Scrambling to his feet, Artorius tried to get a bearing of his surroundings, only for him to get speared into a pillar by his father. The pillar broke into two, landing with a crash. Molag wailed his axes onto Artorius, who blocked them with his blades from underneath the greater demon. With a forceful kick into his stomach, Molag flew of Artorius, and readied himself again.

Artorius dashed forward, unleashing a barrage of slashes in process, painting the air with gold and black streaks. Molag countered each slash with his own weapon, and finally attacked Artorius, and ripped his left cheek open. Blood gushed out of the wound with alarming rate.

'Shit, Goddamn!' Artorius seethed while trying to keep the blood in. A normal slash to the cheek would have been nothing to him, and would've healed in an instant, but daedric weapons had a different property, they not only slowed his healing down, but make the wound, no matter how small, burn with pain.

'Aww, are you hurt? Here, let me look at that for you…' Molag mocked, and punched his son in the face, sending him hurtling to the ground. 'Ha, you're just as weak as she was that rebellious tramp.' Artorius allowed his anger to get the better of him, and he slashed wildly with Goldbrand, catching Molag off guard, and slashed his face open, causing him to stumble back in pain, face in hand.

'Feeling the heat?' Artorius said while looking at the red hot cut on Molag's face. Molag laughed when he saw Artorius' smile.

'That face…damn. Ha, I should killed your whore mother when I had the first chance'

'Whore? That's a lot coming from the Daedric Prince who shags-anything-that-moves.' Artorius retorted while laughing.

'Same rebellious nature, same stupid smile when she thinks she is being funny, I really should've killed her when I had the first opportunity, then I wouldn't have to put up with you right now. Oh well, these things happen, I guess.' Molag said as he laughed sadistically. Without warning, Molag reached the for the cut on his face, digging his fingers into it. With a cruel laugh, he tore away at the cut and with it his face. Black blood spilled everywhere; Molag freed the arms beneath his skin, which bulged with muscle, and used them to rip the reaming flesh and skin that was covering him. He eventually shook of the reaming blood, like a dog when it's wet, and stood up, smiling maliciously as he did so. Molag's true form was nothing like his fake skin. He was scaly and dark green, and had black fur growing on his back. His feet and hands had were beast like, clawed and long. Finally, he opened his eyes, which now burned a bright red, and looked straight at Artorius, laughing as he did so.

'What's wrong boy? No stupid jokes to make now?' Molag said, while mandibles on either side of his face snapping as he said so.

'So what, now you're green and furry, I'm a supposed to be scared?' Artorius said while waving his hands mockingly. Before Artorius could laugh, his windpipes sealed shut, and was lifted into the air. Artorius tried to grab at the hand that was around his neck, but to his horror, there was no hand to grab. Molag brought his real hand closer to him, so that the two Daedra were face to face. With a sadistic laugh, Molag smashed Artorius' stomach, causing blood to spurt out of his mouth, and then thrown into a pillar, which collapsed from the force of the impact. Artorius tried to get to his feet, only for Molag to push him down again, and proceeded to stamp on his son's chest repeatedly, breaking his ribs, causing Artorius to cry out in agony. Another sharp kick to the side sends Artorius sprawling across the black stone.

Artorius felt numb, he couldn't move. His body was beaten and broken; the world felt like it was falling around him. A sharp pain could be felt behind his eyes. Blood filled his mouth, seeping through the gaps between his lips. Artorius could see the world turning to white. The sky brightened, the air was cold no more, and the stench of decay dissipated. All of Cold Harbour eventually faded away.


	6. Domination Chapter 5

A smile crossed Artorius' face.

The grass was amazingly warm, which was strange for Skyrim. The air too was cool, but comfortably so.

Opening his eyes, he saw that the sky was a mix of colours, creating a kaleidoscope above the world. Snow fell gently on his face, melting on his warm skin. Sitting up, Artorius noticed that the colours every where seemed vibrant and practically glowed in the…

_Wait._

The grass and the water in the stream glowed, yes, but there was no visible source of light that could cause it to glow.

And his armour was missing.

Scrambling to his feet, Artorius ran up the hill that was in front of him, and gasped at the sight before him. A bridge crafted from an entire whale connected the land that was separated by a chasm. And on the other side, a hall reached the skies, which was made from an unknown, but very elaborate material.

'We're the hell am I?' Artorius asked out-loud.

'Now now, surely I never taught you language like that?' A gentle voice answered from behind. Spinning around, Artorius came face to face with someone he'd thought he would never see again.

'Mother?' he managed to say after a few attempts. A feeling of sheer joy filled him up, forcing him to leap into her mother's arms. Like her son, she had pale blonde hair and fair skin, but was a head smaller then him. Despite this, she had an air of greatness about her.

'It's good too see you again, Arty.' She said in a voice like silk. Artorius laughed slightly at the sound of his nickname in his ears.

'It's good too see you…' Artorius began, but pulled away before finishing, backing off slightly. 'Wait, you're dead.' He deadpanned. His mother laughed at him.

'So are you.' She said, sniggering at him, all while donning a smile reminiscent of Artorius'. Artorius himself was cursing his luck and slumped onto the grass.

'Surely not yet…' he murmured. His mother joined him sitting down, albeit a little more graceful.

'Well, you're on the very edge.' She said placing an arm around her son. 'You have a choice.'

'A choice?' Artorius repeated. 'As in, I can go back, right now?' His mother nodded her head in answer.

Relief washed over Artorius like a wave. With a heavy sigh, he smiled again, but quickly turned to a frown. 'Mother, do you know how to defeat my father? Do you know how to defeat Molag?' He asked.

His mother stood up, horrified at the question. 'No, I won't tell you!' she said, sobbing slightly.

'So you do know how to, don't you?' Artorius stood up slowly and calmly. His mother hugged herself, unable to console herself.

'…Yes, yes I do.' She answered. Artorius suppressed a 'Yes!' and instead folded his arms.

'And how do I do that?'

'No, I refuse to tell you!' she wailed shaking her head while doing so. Artorius was confused.

'Why not? Why can't you tell me?' he pleaded, holding her hands. The mother tried to calm herself, controlling her sobs.

'Because it could consume you, it could become you!' she answered trying to not look at him in the eye.

'What are you talking about? You're not making any sense!' Artorius asked again, nearly shouting. His mother took a deep breath, and answered his question.

'You a son of a Daedric Prince, and so, you are very powerful, but you don't know it yet.' She began. Artorius had noticed the light in her blue eyes had disappeared. Her voice quaked from the reluctance to reveal this. 'Artorius… the only way to defeat a Daedric Prince, is to become something with equal power.'

'Like another Daedric Prince or a divine.' Artorius added. His mother nodded in reply.

'You must… release all your hate and anger inside you, and essentially become it.' She finished. Artorius blinked in response, unable to understand what she was saying.

'So… get angry? That's it?' He asked.

'Not just that.' She replied. 'To not lose your mind, you must also believe, stronger then ever, in what you believe in.' Artorius looked up at the multi-coloured sky, deep in thought.

_What _do _I believe in? _He pondered, hand on chin.

'But promise me one thing. That you will never let this power consume you.' She pleaded.

'Alright, I promise I will never let this power consume me.' He vowed. His mother leapt into his arms, sobbing into his chest.

'Please forgive me. I never wanted you to grow up like this.' She cried quietly. Reluctantly, they pulled away and went their separate ways, but not before one last look back at each other.

'I love you, Artorius, and always will do.' She sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

'I love you too mother, and I'll come back here someday.' Artorius vowed, and turned down the path again. At the bottom of the path, Artorius met a giant of a man. He was at least a good head taller then Artorius, and looked strong enough to break a Giant in half with one hand.

'Are you ready to return to the world of the living, or, the Daedra, in your case.' He asked. Artorius simply nodded his head in reply, and braced himself.

'Nahl…Daal Vus!' the man shouted, sending a lightning bolt of pain through Artorius. A bright light blinded him, dazing him. Without warning, he was forced onto all fours. Blood seeped out of his mouth. Spitting a glob of it out, it splattered onto a black stone floor.

'Ah crap, I'm back.' Artorius murmured before standing up. Shaking his head free from dizziness, Artorius tried to get a bearing of his surroundings, and saw his father walking towards him slowly, growling like an animal.

'Scream for me, as I, Molag Bal, tear your spine out!' he roared gripping his son by the neck once more.

Artorius began to build up his anger by thinking of the things that have gone wrong in his life. His Mother's death. His hard upbringing. The abandonment of the rest of his family. In time, he was consumed with hate and rage, bent on only killing his father.

'Artorius!' a muffled voice shouted. Turning his head to the side, Artorius could make a hazy figure of a sword. 'You must set free the Daedra inside!' it shouted.

'_To not lose your mind, you must believe, stronger then ever, in what you believe in.' _his mother had said. Artorius began to search himself. What _did _he fight for?

_Call it retribution; it's got a better ring to it…_

Retribution. Yes. He wanted to avenge these women and men. Molag had been at this game for far too long, and had always won. Not today, on this day, he would pay for what he has done.

With new found strength, Artorius pulled away Molag's hand that was gripping tightly around his neck, and dropped onto the floor.

'What's this?' Molag asked gripping his axes tightly. Artorius lifted up his whole body and released a blue shockwave that sent Molag crashing into a pillar. With a roar to the heavens, Artorius' was lifted into the air. His voice cracked and distorted, becoming notably deeper. His ebony armour fused to his own flesh, giving it an organic look. He flared up, surrounded with a blue flame that forced Molag to shield his eyes. His skin curled and blackened and blue lines crossed all over his body that pulsed with his power. His hair turned an ice blue, almost white, that was swept back across his head.

Eyes glowing with lightning, the newly transformed Daedric Prince reached out and commanded both of his blades to fly into his hands. Domination, like its master, had also changed. The runes started to glow a midnight blue, and the runes themselves had changed.

Molag was in awe. He wasn't sure what just happened was real or not. 'What are you?' he asked, but he already knew the answer. Artorius just stared at him in answer.

'So what if you changed appearance!' Molag laughed. 'You're still going to die!'

'Hn, come and prove it.' Artorius retorted, voice calm and unwavering.

Once more Cold Harbour readied itself, and once more, the two Daedra prepared themselves for the final battle.


	7. Domination Chapter 6

**CLANG.**

**CLANG.**

**BANG.**

Only these sounds filled the air, sword and axe smashed into each other, sending sparks and shockwaves flying into the air. Lightning ripped through the clouds above them, lighting the darkness for a brief second.

Goldbrand had burnt everything in its wake, causing the platform and pillars to become completely charred and cracked. Artorius, with his new found power, had become close to a god, easily matching Molag Bal with ease.

Molag himself was having great difficulty trying to kill his son, and backed away slightly, taking the defensive. 'Hn, not bad, I suppose.' He grunted as he got up from being knocked down. 'Still, you're nothing to me. Soon, you'll be begging for my mercy.'

Charging forward, he swung over his axes over his head, smashing them into the stone where Artorius was before moving out of the way, and landing behind the demon. 'Mercy which I don't give!' Molag barked before laughing.

'Hn, you talk too much.' Artorius said through clenched white teeth, and dashed towards Molag, delivering a trio of swings, slicing Molag's stomach, causing him to reel in pain.

'You little…' he growled, and calmed himself. This time, he flung a glowing green ball that bubbled with an acidic liquid. Artorius ducked out of the way, missing the ball of acid. Instead, it hit a pillar, eating away at the stone with ease.

Taking the advantage, Molag attacked Artorius while he was distracted, and smashed the flat side of his axe into Artorius, sending him skidding across the black stone. Molag tried to capitalize, but was swiftly countered by a forceful swing from Domination, sending the demon sprawling across the charred ground.

Molag let out another growl of hate and scrambled onto his feet again. A sharp clang was made from the sound of a broken axe hitting the floor. Molag simply tutted, and using magic, ripped Goldbrand from Artorius' grip, and flung the blade over the edge of the roof.

'Hah, now we're…' Molag began, only to be cut short by a sharp punch to the jaw, and was flung into another pillar.

'I liked that weapon…' Artorius remarked after shaking his hand. Molag said nothing, and growled in anger instead.

'OK, play time is over.' Molag said to himself while licking the blood from his lips. With a blood-curdling roar, Molag leapt into the air and swung his axe with both hands, smashing Domination that was in front of Artorius.

Blade hit blade, causing sparks to fly off the metal, fizzing as it hit the ground. Molag began to swing wildly, hoping to hit Artorius, but he was no ordinary swordsman, and with amazing dexterity, countered with ease. Lifting his axe above his head, Molag revealed an opportunity, and Artorius took it.

Despite Domination being in a greatsword form, Artorius easily managed to swing it with one hand, to great effect. With a quick set of attacks, Molag was forced backwards, blood gushing out of various cuts and gashes, however, Artorius was far from done, and to add to it, Domination shifted forms in the scythe, and span at a maniacal speed, cutting up Molag even more.

Molag had had enough, and swung at the spinning blade forcing it to stop. Molag tried to use his telekinesis spell, but failed, and as a result, had his hand crushed by a war hammer smashing into it. Screaming in agony, Molag was sent flying into the air by another blow landed by the war hammer form Domination had took.

Artorius followed his father into the air, and swung Domination at his father, but the attack was anticipated, and Molag dodged out of the way, and countered with a swift hack from his axe, hitting his son in the shoulder. Molag laughed in triumph, but was cut short by Artorius' own laugh.

'That's it?' he asked while looking at the puny gash in his shoulder. 'Come on, you can do better then that.'

'You arrogant little bastard.' Molag seethed. Artorius frowned before answering.

'Hey, I was being nice, you know, because we're family and all.' Artorius said through a smile. Molag's growls were getting progressively deeper and more aggressive. 'Never hurts to encourage your family members to do better…' Artorius continued.

'GRRRAGGGHH! Shut up! SHUT UP!' Molag screeched, and threw his axe at Artorius, who dodged it with ease.

'Now come on Pops, shouting never got anyone anywhere, did it?' Artorius continued, smile getting more prominent with every taunt. 'Well, except the Dragonborn, that's an exception, I guess.' Molag had enough, and literally exploded with anger, and roared at Artorius.

'GRAGH, I'M GOING TO TEAR OFF YOUR HEAD, SHIT DOWN YOUR NECK, AND PISS ON YOUR WORTHLESS CARCASS!' Molag screamed as he flailed his fists at his son, occasionally firing and acidic ball of energy.

After his mindless rampage had finished, Molag had to take deep breaths, trying to recover from the intense anger that he had just felt.

'Now, that was uncalled for.' Artorius deadpanned from behind Molag, who turned around at the last second, before being smashed back to the platform by a very forceful punch. With a crash, the demon smashed into the black, charred floor, nearly going through it.

'Judgment has been decided now, Molag Bal.' Artorius announced, no hint of his usual merriment in his voice. Domination, on cue, shifted into its gauntlets and greaves form, and with a mighty crash, Artorius began to smash his father with his fists, hurtling the demon through the entire tower.

Floor after floor collided with Molag, smashing his back with great force, and to add to it, the fists of Artorius were repeatedly beating Molag, battering his face and body. For the first time in his existence, Molag Bal was feeling true agony for the first time. Black stone and dust erupted around the two Daedra, engulfing them as they descended the tower.

With a mighty roar, Molag was smashed into the bottom floor like a meteor from the heavens. Around the two demons, the tower began to crumble, and fell apart around them, making the black dust and rubble to fly into the cold air before dissipating.

The sound of the tower drowned out the moans that the nearly dead Molag gave out, and with one final crash, the noise and dust died down, revealing the newly transformed Artorius, who was glaring at Molag from a rebellious piece of rubble that jutted out from ground, eyes cackling with blue lightning.

'You… think you've won?' Molag groaned as he tried to prize himself from between the rocks. 'You can never… kill a Daedric Prince.'

'True.' Artorius replied. 'But I'm sure the Waters won't let you return any time soon.' To his surprise, and despite having a crushed chest, Molag managed to let out a wheezy laugh.

'Hn, your human blood is nothing to the Daedra. Your current appearance proves that the realms of Oblivion are your home. Someday, you'll return, and I shall use your corpse as a foot rest when you get here.' Molag retorted. 'You cannot change your fate.'

'Watch me.' Artorius stated before walking away from his now dying father, but not before hearing one final murmur.

'Do not think that this is… over.' He moaned as ethereal hands began to pull him into the realm of the Waters.

'Never heard that one before.' Artorius remarked sarcastically as he walked away.

Approaching the gate to Mundus, a golden glint caught Artorius' eye.

Goldbrand.

It was stuck firmly in the black cobble, unmarked and unbroken. Retrieving the blade, Artorius watched as his body began its transformation, his demonic features reverting back into their normal, human appearance. His Ebony Mail too became itself once again. With a relived sigh, Artorius reunited the two swords to their respective holsters.

'Let's get out of this hell hole.' He sighed to himself, and stepped through the portal.


	8. Domination Epilouge

The extremely harsh glare that the celestial ball of flame gave out forced Artorius to shield his eyes, for he loved the power of sight. Soon, his eyes adjusted, and with his hand down, Artorius could an entire forest before him. Taking a deep sniff, his lungs were filled with clean, crisp and cold air.

'Ah, home sweet home!' Artorius said with a hearty sigh.

No cynical answer.

'Dom?' Artorius asked with a smile.

Still no answer. Artorius' forehead creased, and he planted his sword into the snow.

'You there, Dom?' Artorius asked again, this time crouched so he was face to face with the skull on cross guard. Tapping his finger on one of the blue gems, Artorius noticed that unlike him, his sword had not reverted back to its original form.

'Hail, Artorius…' the sword spoke without warning, making Artorius jump.

'Oh, so you are in there.' Artorius mumbled to himself

'…Daedric Prince of Retribution. The sword finished. Artorius raised an eyebrow, taken back slightly.

'I'm no Daedric Prince. What are you on about?' Artorius asked.

'You have proven yourself to be a Daedric Lord. The defeat of Molag Bal, a demon with no respect for the lives of mortals, is a mighty victory, no ordinary mortal could have defeated him, only those chosen by…'

'Cut to the chase, I'm not much for philosophy.' Artorius moaned impatiently.

'Ah, apologies my lord. It is your birthright, to put it simply. It is who you are, and after all this time, you have finally discovered it.' The sword said.

'Retribution…' Artorius said quietly to himself, but loud enough for the sword to hear.

'The act of punishment that is deemed to be right and just.' The sword said.

'I know what it means!' Artorius said impatiently, and was about to sheath the sword, when an idea crossed his mind.

'Wait… does that mean I get crazies following me and worshipping me? Because if I do…' Artorius asked.

'Oh no, you won't get them, I've just said that you are a prince, but, that doesn't mean you are a famous one, by no means.' The sword said as its master returned it to its sheath.

'So… what do I call you know? Domination isn't a very fitting name.' Artorius asked.

'Whatever you desire.' The blade responded. Artorius took a while to think, and finally settled down with,

'Retribution.' Artorius announced, and finally, the façade was off, and the sword sighed.

'What. Seriously?'

'Yeah, it's a reminder, so I don't forget what I fight for, what do you think?' Artorius asked.

'Ha, if I had to compare you to your father in any way, is that you both a little imagination.' Retribution replied. 'Fine, it'll do, I suppose.' Artorius smiled before talking again.

'By the way, you'd better stay like that. That whole 'my lord' crap was freaking me out a little.' Artorius remarked.

'I'll admit, it was bothering me too.' Retribution replied, now tolerating its new name. 'Still, it has to be better then 'Dom'.'

'Well then, we'd better…' Artorius began, but was cut short by the sound of heavy, vengeful breathing down his neck. Turing around, the warrior came face to face with the dragon from earlier, still enraged by the previous.

'Ah, it's becoming quite a _drag_ for you, isn't it big guy?' Artorius said through a grin. The sigh let out from Retribution was drowned out by the mighty roar that the dragon let out, followed by a deafening shout that sent rock and boulders flying towards Artorius, who leapt into the air to dodge them, landing on a stone spire safely.

'What is it with people and shouted lately?' Artorius sighed to himself. 'But, if it's a fight you're looking for…' With a mighty jump, Artorius plunged the blade towards the earth, splitting rock and ice, successfully intimidating the dragon, who backed of towards the cliff face.

'…Then you've got one.' Artorius said, eyes filled with excitement for the coming battle.

It is, what he lives for, after all.


	9. Darkest Darkness Prolouge

His fingers were trembling from sheer excitement. Finally, after 200 years of being forgotten by civilization, he has obtained the legendary blade know as Umbra. He gasped at the beauty and the ethereal glow of the weapon. The purple glow of the enchantment lit his face up, highlighting the young adventurer's child like features. His eyes moved up and down the blade like a wolf and his newly killed prey.

'I-I found it!' he finally managed to splutter. 'With this, I'll be the mightiest warrior to ever exist in Skyrim! Let's see those stuck up Companions call me 'whelp' again!'

He gripped the blade's hilt, and swung it around carelessly, scraping the floor and walls around him. He laughed in delight, with a hint of insanity, at the sound of the sword tearing through the air. He stopped after a minute of non stop swinging, his arms too puny to swing it anymore. His gaze never left the blade.

'Ha.'

The young warrior jumped at the sound of the laugh resounding through the air. He turned frantically, searching every corner in the room, trying to find the source of the voice.

'Who's there?' Whimpered the boy. 'Show your self!'

No reply.

'H-hello?'

'Hmph.'

The boy gave a stifled cry. Again he frantically searched the room. He backed up against a wall in the room. He began to sob from frustration.

'Look, if you reveal yourself, you can have the sword.'

Again a laugh resounded through the air. 'You whimpering little pup. Backing against the wall won't save you now.'

The boy leapt from the wall, expected someone to be there. He came face to face with his shadow, made by the candle light.

'Please, leave me alone. You can take the sword, just leave me alone!' He tried to throw the sword, but to his horror, his own hand did not respond to his will. He shook his hand in sheer terror, but he was still gripping it with inhuman strength. He looked at the floor, the shadows came forth, covering the floor with looming threat, and the ceiling of the ruins began crawling towards him. He backed up against the wall once more. He sob became a cry, yet no sound came from his mouth, he was too scared to even murmur. The voice, once more, spoke to him, and was closer then before.

'You fool…'

The boy shook from the darkness that surrounded him. He felt a sharp tugging feeling grow in his chest.

'…I AM the sword.'

An inhuman cry tore through the air.


	10. Darkest Darkness Chapter 1

The giants' stone cold eyes looked blankly at the clear sky. Its neck seeping blood from a large gash were a sharp blade cut it. A knee cap was sticking out of its leg from a violent blow from a very, very heavy weapon. Artorius was breathing slightly faster then normal, but quickly slowed down to normal pace, and shifted slightly to get comfy on the boulder with giant markings on it. Retribution glowed softly before shifting back into its normal great sword form. About a minute went by of Artorius twiddling his thumbs, making sure the giant wasn't going to get up again. Artorius let out a sigh of intense boredom.

'I really should have dragged that fight out a bit longer.' He puffed while tilting his head back.

Retribution agreed, and pointed out, 'Well, now you've got to get its toe.'

Artorius sighed with displeasure. In the space of 2 months, he had become quite a famous mercenary. He did a range of jobs, from giant slaying, bandit slaying, dragon slaying Falmer slaying, basically, anything with 'slaying' on the end, he would do without question. But this certain job was two-fold. Normally, he wouldn't do this, but Farengar paid him double to get this 'special' toe of this. Artorius tapped the hilt of Retribution, and watched it shift into a small dagger, and Artorius started to cut at the toe. About half way through, a smell made his nose curl involuntarily, and puss seeped onto his gauntlet.

'The son of a… by the nine, I'm going to kill him when I get back!'

Retribution laughed at his repulsion, 'It's funny. You stare down dragons, slay countless bandits while making crude jokes, show absolutely no fear what so ever when fighting a Daedric Prince, yet you turn into a little girl when it comes to smells!'

More puss squirted out of the toe, and onto Artorius' face, which he quickly wiped with his azure cloak, making a yellow green smear on it. Finally, after some more puss and retching, the toe finally came of, and puss continued to seep onto the grass. Artorius sighed with irritation, his eyes turned red slightly from the retching. Retribution shifted back into its claymore form, and was returned to its holster. The puss filed toe dripped from the leather pouches' tiny holes.

'Dear gods, let's just hurry back to Dragonsreach.'

-Dragonsreach-

'Here's your…err…yeah.' Artorius said while tossing the bag of puss and meat. But it was mostly puss. Farengar did not even reply, and began with his first, ever alchemy experiment, without Arcadia's help. This was a first.

'You're welcome.' Puffed Artorius. Farengar finally looked up, eyebrow raised.

'If you don't mind, I'm creating a potion, and I don't need meaningless interruptions from meaningless people.'

To Artorius' surprise, Retribution took the words out of his masters' mouth

'Arsehole.'

Retribution never said things like that. It normally spoke with formality and sophistication, but his statement made Artorius snigger slightly at its response.

Farengar did not notice and carried on with his potion making. He squeezed the juice and puss, forcing Artorius to look away in disgust, shuddering at the colour and smell.

'I'll go get my reward from the Jarl then.' Artorius huffed while walking out of the room. When he approached the Jarl, he bowed slightly in respect, trying to not get Irileth on his back. Thankfully, she accepted with a nod.

'Hail Artorius, come for your reward? Proventus, the coin.' Smiled Balgruuf.

Proventus bowed to them both, and handed Artorius a weighty bag of gold, which changed Artorius' to a grin.

'Thank you my Jarl, is there any-' Artorius was cut of by the sound of violent retching coming from the east wing. Irileth put her hand on her face and shook her head.

'I'll go see what's up. Maid, bring a mop and bucket.' Irileth walked towards Farengar, the maid scurrying behind. Artorius met Balgruuf's eyes, and gave a fake, innocent grin.

'I'll just be going now.'

'That would be best.' Nodded the jarl.

After a quick restock at the alchemists, Artorius found himself out side the city gates again, this time, without the impending thought that he would have to cut of a giants toe.

'Now what?' questioned Retribution.

Artorius was already pondering on that question himself. He had sucked Whiterun dry from jobs, and the Companions took the rest of the jobs that people would not give him.

He scratched his stubble, and after a few minutes of silence, walked towards the carriage driver and asked;

'How much to Falkreath?'

The carriage looked down in thought. 'Hmm…about 20 gold.'

Artorius tossed him a bag of gold 'Take 50.' He sat down at the back of the cart, placing Retribution next to him, and relaxed.

'Looks like that potion…' smirked Artorius

'Don't you dare finish that sentence.' Groaned Retribution


	11. Darkest Darkness Chapter 2

**A.N **Thanks for the 2 reviews so far, but would be awesome if I got more though, so I know how I was doing, so please try and leave one, Thanks again.

Josh

/ Falkreath was more lively then usual. Men and women lined up in front of the Jarl's long house, all wearing some for of armour made for combat or magic, some of them looked like they could handle themselves, some looked no older then 16, those were obviously the new ones in the rough world of Skyrim. Artorius lined in the queue to see what all the commotion was about. He waited for about half an hour to get inside, away from the impending rain that was coming over the hold. Inside, he noticed flyers on the floor that read;

**ATTENTION GREAT WARROIRS OF SKYRIM**

**THE JARL OF FALKREATH, JARL SIDDGEIR WANTS YOU TO ASSIST HIM**

**IN A MATTER OF GRAVE IMPORTANCE. MORE DETAILS AT THE JARL'S LONGHOUSE.**

**REWARD: 10,000**

'Huh, 10,000? I wonder what the job is, must be something good.' Artorius wondered out loud. Finally, his turn came, and bowed slightly to the jarl.

'You've come for the job have you?' Siddgeir asked. His voice was nasally and thin.

'Yes my jarl. What is the job, may I ask, your flyer was a bit vague on the job, it just said 'ask for details.'' asked Artorius.

'It's simple. Clear out a cave of vampiric cultists. And not dying in the process.' The jarl lost all hope in his face when he said those words. This job had been turned down a lot. Today was his lucky day.

'Where do I go then?' Replied Artorius with a smile

Siddgeirs face beamed slightly at his response. 'Really? It's a cave between Ivarstead and here, Are you sure?'

Artorius waved of his question. 'Meh, I've faced worse.'

Siddgeir still couldn't believe this mans response; he raised an eyebrow in confusion, his mouth dropped slightly. 'Um… ok. Also, there are others on job, so perhaps you could assist each other?'

'Look, you get the gold sorted, I'll worry about the others, got it?'

The jarl flicked his fingers, signalling Artorius towards the door, who gave a short bow, and headed outside.

'All right, no more now, we have got enough people on this job. I want some gold for myself. '

All the warriors let out a harmony of sighs and grunts of irritation, and stormed out of the room, crushing each other out of the narrow door way. Artorius was already heading towards the cave when his sword shook from its speech.

'Is it just me, or does this job seem…off.' questioned Retribution

'Nah, its simple, kill some blood suckers; get the gold, telling all the other warriors to deal with it…'

'You misunderstand my question. The cave he was referring to is supposedly a cave for Daedra worshippers, so vampires plus Daedra make a very bad combination, don't you agree? The jarl was not scared because they are just vampires, they are vampiric cultists, and they are the worst kind.' The sword stated.

'So they worship a Daedra? Is that what you are telling me?' asked Artorius

'Basically.'

'Well, that just makes it even more interesting.' Artorius laughed

'Just a warning.' Sighed the sword

'Noted, now come on; let's go to the scary cave of scary vampires who worship a scary Daedra.'

After an uneventful two hours of walking, Artorius found the entrance to the cave know as Haemar's Shame. The entrance had blood smeared on the walls, skulls and other bones littered the snow, a wooden cart was thrown to the side of the jutting rock arch. A vampires body was slumped against the wall, another one was lying face down on the floor. Both looked freshly killed.

'Looks like I'm late for the party!' laughed Artorius as he walked into the cave. More bodies lied on the icy floor, occasionally a mercenary's body would appear. Some looked like they have only just come of age.

'What a waste…come on, let's hurry and meet up with who is left.' Retribution said.

Artorius picked up his pace into a slight jog, and then a cry echoed through the cave, and after it, a loud crack, swords slashed against each other, spells colliding with each other, and shouts and taunts rang through the air. Artorius smirked, and began to run towards the source of the commotion. He jumped and leapt over bodies and obstacles, and found the source. At least ten vampires had circled around four mercenaries, the biggest of the mercenaries shouted at them, 'Come you toothy bastards, I haven't got all day!' The vampire directly in front of him leapt forward, only for its head to be smashed into the ground by the war hammer that the mercenary held. As he tried to lift it up, he groaned in annoyance, for it was stuck in the ice and flesh. The others closed in on them slowly, eyes filled with madness and a lust for blood.

'I'll tear the skin from your body!' one bellowed.

'I'll devour you heart while you watch!' another screeched

'Yeah, and I'll…'

'I'll kick your ass so hard; you'll be walking like a Falmer for a month!'

The vampires looked at the source of the voice, only for their eyes to meet a golden blade dancing trough the air. Flames burst forth from four of them, two were thrown into the air, and sliced in two while in midair, and one was smashed into the cave wall, snapping his spine, another two were slashed at the abdomen, causing their guts to be split on the floor. Only one was remaining, who was feebly clawing at the floor, spluttering at the sheer carnage that Artorius had just created, it took him several tries to get him to actually speak.

'N-n-no, please! Oh gods please! Don't hurt me! Please, I'll leave just don't hurt me!'

Artorius walked towards him slowly, blades in hand, ice crunching beneath his ebony boots, breathing steadily and slowly. The vampires eyes widened in dire fear of what was about to happen. Finally after a dreadful silence, Artorius breathed out, 'And you are set free.'

'What? NO!'

A gurgle replaced the screech, and eventually died down. Artorius wiped the blood from the blades with azure cloak, and sheathed both blades back into their holsters. He turned to meet the remaining mercenaries, who were all gobsmacked, except the biggest one, an orc, deeply scarred by the encounters he had had with the many beasts of Skyrim. He wore ragged fur, and held an orcish war hammer in his right hand. He spoke in a gruff, unfriendly tone.

'I didn't your help, so stop looking at me like that, Nord.'

'Anytime.' Sighed Artorius

'Oh for Stendarr's sake, he just saved your fat ass, can't you just be grateful for once, Grazog?' asked a red haired Breton. The orc grumbled a 'Thank you' and went to pilfer the bodies around them.

'Thank you stranger, I'm in your debt. My name is Aoife, Breton.' She held out her hand in politeness. 'And you?'

'Artorius, I'm a Nord.' He shook her hand firmly.

_Oh, and Daedra._

'Not that race means anything_._' Aoife sighed in amusement. Artorius went meet the other mercenaries, who shook his hand and introduced themselves, stating how grateful they were to him.

Finally after a quick check on everyone's health, Grazog turned to them, 'After you're done having a little picnic, let's finally get out of here.' All four of them shook there heads in agreement, and began walking up the slope towards the back entrance, and a youthful, nasally laugh resounded through the air, followed by a slow, sarcastic clap that echoed through the caves.

'Oh come friends, this party is just getting started! Surely you want to see the good part?'

The mercenaries turned towards the statue that the voice came from. A small, hobbit-like creature leapt forth from the purple void that appeared, closely followed by a very hairy mutt, the creature was instantly recognizable as a Daedra from its oddly coloured, purplish skin, and small, curved yellow horns that jutted out its skull. The purple Daedra worn exquisitely fine robes, with sandals on his feet that were decorated with purple gems. The duo bowed mockingly before the mercenaries before announcing its name with a toothy grin.

'Clavicus Vile, at your service.'

A.N.

Aoife is pronounced 'ee-fa' by the way.


	12. Darkest Darkness Chapter 3

'You're the Daedric of Trickery? I can see why now.' Aoife huffed. He could have at least picked a better appearance, rather then a purple stump. Clavicus bowed again, as a sign of mockery more then respect. The rest of the group were raising eye brows at his form, he was hardly intimidating in the slightest. His nasally voice sent a shiver through the spines of the mercenaries, except Artorius, who was still wondering about how this little imp was supposed to be almightily powerful.

'Correct young lady! You see, while chanting and worshipping me is nice every now and then, it does get boring very fast, so thanks for saving me from boredom.'

'Um…you're welcome, I guess.' Aoife replied.

'Hmm…you know, since you helped me out with my problem, how about I strike a deal with you five? With no strings attached?'

The orc and two wood elf twins seemed to be very attentive now, they practically leaned into Clavicus' face, for he was know to strike amazing deals with mortals when pleased, however, Aoife knew his game far to well, 'I don't think so, we'll pass.'

'Ha, speak for your self! Come on Clavicus, let's here it!' One wood elf asked.

'Yeah, tell us! Tell us now!' the other said in unison.

_Oh dear…_ Artorius sighed and shook his head. These two are basically asking for their headstones.

'Well, since you asked so nicely… retrieve the mighty blade, Umbra!'

The whole group fell silent. The Twins rose opposite eyebrows, Grazog scratched his chin in confusion, Artorius cocked his head to the side, and Aoife was squinting in great suspicion. Clavicus looked between them, eyes darting to each one. Only Barbas looked terrified, eyes widened and legs shaking in fear.

'You can't be serious Master!' barked Barbas

'Shut up, mutt.' Clavicus said through his teeth, still smiling at the group.

'What's Umbra?' asked Grazog

Clavicus could not believe his ears. He gasped and laughed, but did not answer immediately.

'Seriously? You don't know what Umbra is?'

'Not a clue. Tell us!' The twins answered.

'Well…It's a mighty sword that mortals should not be carrying around.'

'Why?' the twins asked again.

'Because everyone would die and their souls would be absorbed and your world will cease to be that's why.'

'How?' asked the twins once more

'For the love of… do you want my boon?'

Grazog and the wood elves nodded vigorously.

'Then go get it then from the Nordic ruins to the south of here!' Screeched Clavicus.

Before the three could even move, Aoife began to speak again, this time with even more suspicion.

'Wait right there you three!' She began to walk slowly towards Clavicus slowly, until she was looking down at him directly. 'How do we know you won't back stab us, hmm?' Clavicus' smile did not leave his indigo face, and replied with a toothy grin,

'Well, in case you haven't noticed Carrot Top, there are one, two, three, four…'

Clavicus had finally properly taken notice of Artorius, and his grin deserted his face. Instead, Artorius had stolen it from him, and looked directly into his yellow eyes, making Clavicus seemingly shrink even smaller. Then after a brief staring contest, Artorius spoke, 'Five.' Barbas was snickering quietly at Clavicus' sudden silence. He finally croaked out a response,

'Yeah, five of you, and one of me, so I don't really feel like getting on your bad sides, especially yours, Blondie.' Artorius noticed that Clavicus' smile had returned, and unlike the rest, who were completely oblivious, realised his double-meaning.

'You got that right, shrimp.'

The other mercenaries looked on in shock, he had just insulted a Daedric Prince as if I was nothing.

'Shrimp eh? Look, I'd make fun of you, but I don't think you'd understand.'

'Least I know up to the number five.'

'Oh yeah, then what's with the scar? Did your mother test her kitchen knives on you when you were a baby?'

'I shit bigger then you.'

'Well at least my….'

'ENOUGH! Both of you!' Aoife shouted. The two Princes looked at her, making Aoife slightly recoil at the pairs of eyes, but recovered from it very quickly.

'I really want to get going now, and in case you haven't noticed, the others have gone, so will you please hurry up!' Aoife stormed of after the others, leaving the two princes on their own. They both faced each other again, slightly more calm.

'She's right, I better go; don't want a crick in my neck from looking at you.' Laughed Artorius, and ran after the others. Before going out, Artorius looked over his shoulder, 'You better not back stab us.' Clavicus merely laughed.

'Thank you, by the way.' said Clavicus. Artorius tilted his head slightly.

'For what?'

'I hated Molag.'

Artorius shook his head in amusement, and ran towards the sunlight, leaving Clavicus alone.

'Stupid dog.'

Well, not entirely alone.


	13. Darkest Darkness Chapter 4

**A.N Whoa, what? 854 views and only 3 reviews!? (thank you you 3, by the way), come on, there must be something good about this story! anything? please? Anyway, enjoy the chapter, while I go make my self a sandwich. **

* * *

The harsh glare of the sun hurt Artorius' eyes, making him involuntarily shield them, and quickly adjusted to the light emitted from the celestial ball of flame that hovered over Skyrim. The trees were non-existent around this area, only snow and ice filled this path, luckily, the sky was crystal clear, so Artorius did not need to worry about an impending snow storm. Aoife was already half way down the path, in a sort of half arsed sprint, which Artorius thought was kind of funny. 'Hey, wait up! Trying to ditch me?' Aoife turned around, giving a sharp beckon of her hand before turning around again, and Artorius jogged to her side in response, before jokingly stating, 'Not the first girl who has ran away from me.' Aoife remained silent, looking forever forward, hoping to find the other three. 'Oh great, thank you divines for giving me a moody woman. Moody women are the worst women in creation.'

'Will you please shut up!' Aoife demanded.

'Finally! I was only teasing.' Artorius laughed. The two finally got to the end of the path, and saw the other three…about a mile away, they were in full sprint not letting up in their pursuit for glory and favour of a Daedric Prince. To Artorius' side, Aoife groaned, and kicked a rock down the slope, and made a soft thud in the grass at the bottom. Trees had appeared all over the landscape, ranging from colours of green and brown, the sun piercing through the gaps between the leaves, creating miniature columns of light. Artorius took a long deep breath of satisfaction, and slowed his pace, unlike Aoife, who seemed to get faster as he slowed. 'What's the hurry? Missing your pig-nosed fiancée?'

Aoife turned sharply on her heel, and came face to chin with Artorius, and bared her teeth in irritation.

'My initial opinion of you has changed you know. I thought you were actually nice, but now, I think you're an ASSHOLE!' She was about to storm of before stopped dead by Artorius' response.

'All right then, see you.' Sighed the warrior behind her. Before saying 'Bye.' She thought about how far she would get without his help, and that was not very, if Clavicus was right, she would need his help, whether she wanted it or not. She took a deep breath, and turned towards Artorius who was walking slowly away from her, back up the path they had just come down. She sighed.

'O.K. I'm sorry!' Artorius stopped, and looked over his shoulder,

'For?'

'For calling you an asshole.' She sighed. Artorius merely laughed at her, and gently patted her on the shoulder, and took the lead. Aoife followed him, but keeping a good distance away from him, and keeping an eye on him. After a few more minutes of silence, Artorius began to speak again.

'So…why did you take the job from Siddgeir?' It took a while for an answer to get out.

'My brother is sick, and I need the money to by him a cure, why, is that a problem?'

'No, just making friendly conversation.' He answered. A few minutes passed, and this time Aoife asked him a 'friendly' question.

'Where did you learn to fight like that? Back at the cave?' Artorius slowed down, thinking of a excuse.

'Umm…eat your veggies?' he said with a failed smile.

'Right, so you're telling me, if I eat my vegetables, which I do by the way, I'll be able to kill vampires while they are mid-air? Yeah right.'

'No joke.' Artorius replied. Aoife would not have this, and asked even more questions.

'So, you're armour, does that let you to zip around the room while decapitating vampires? Or is that gained by eating fruit?' Artorius seized his chance, and replied slyly,

'Yes it is enchanted, there, that's how I do it.' Aoife laughed at his stupidity

'No such enchantment exists.' She quickly retorted. Artorius looked hopelessly around, trying to think of something.

'Well, you're not looking hard enough are you?' Artorius retorted back, and walked onward in false triumph, but Aoife was shaking her head in disbelief and asked another question,

'The golden katana you have there, that belongs to Boethiah, doesn't it?' she asked with a suspicious look. Artorius realised it was sticking out slightly, and tucked it behind his cloak.

'It _did._ I stole it of her…him? One of those.' Aoife's mouth dropped, she gasped in complete shock, shaking her head once more.

'You stole it? As if it was nothing!?'

'Pretty much.'

'Are you insane!? No one steals from a Daedric Prince! You are either completely insane and don't really care about yourself, or…' Aoife stopped mid sentence, a wave of realisation swept over her, and scurried in front of Artorius, eyes winced at his. Artorius looked at her bewildered.

'Or a…?' he asked, slightly unnerved at her gaze.

'…or a Daedra.'

_Oh snap._

'Oh come on! Seriously? How do I look like a Daedra?' He laughed, 'Let's be real now.' Artorius began to walk away, only for the red head to step in front of him.

'Whoa, who ever said you're going anywhere?' she stated. Artorius moved his eyes side to side, before answering,

'I did.' And pushed her to the side before walking down the cobbled path. He heard a sharp clicking noise behind, and turned to see the source, a silver gleam shone in his face, and saw a Dawnguard style cross bow staring at him, with a bolt ready to fly at him. Aoife was not looking happy.

'I said, whoever said you're going anywhere, hmm?' she asked with a frown. Artorius crossed his arms and sighed elaborately before sincerely asking,

'You're not actually going to shoot me, are you?' he asked with a cocked head. A loud clang rang through the air, and Artorius recoiled slightly, and realised he had a long piece of steel sticking out of his abdomen, were only his jerkin and black chainmail covered him. The wound was bleeding slightly. 'Huh. I wasn't expecting that.' He took notice of another bolt being loaded into the bow, ready to fire again, this time aimed clearly at his face.

'Looks like I was right, Daedra.' Aoife said with a scowl. Artorius put his hand on his face and sighed,

'Don't you dare touch that trigger, or else I'll ruin that pretty face of yours.' Aoife slowly curled her finger towards the trigger. Artorius shook his head.

'No.' The finger almost touched the trigger. 'What did I say, No.' I quiet click of the finger meeting the metal caused Artorius to leap at her, and swiftly uppercut the crossbow from Aoife's hands, and sending it soaring into the air. They were face to face now, grey and green mixed, and both of them stood completely still.

'I liked that crossbow.' Aoife said.

'Really? Well I like my stomach, but that didn't stop you shooting at it.' Artorius retorted. The crossbow began its descent, and landed in Artorius' palm. Aoife reached out to get it from him, only for her to be pushed backwards.

'Give it back, now.' She demanded.

'No. To be honest, considering you just shot me without warning, I think I'm being more then generous to the fact I'm not beating the crap out of you. So no, you won't be having this back yet.' Artorius wasn't angry at her, but seemed to be slightly irritated by it. 'Now, if you want it back, you will take the lead, and take us to the ruins.' Aoife gave up arguing with a Daedra, and reluctantly obeyed him. She stepped in front of him and lead him down the path, but not before giving one last glance at the crossbow.

'Move.'


	14. Darkest Darkness Chapter 5

'Are you sure you know were your going?' Artorius asked. They had been walking for a few hours, and the sun was getting brighter as it was setting over the hills.

'Yes, I only know of one Nordic ruin around here, and that's Arcwind Point.' Earlier, they saw the other three head in the wrong direction, due to the fact that Aoife was there 'compass', so she slowed her pace to a comfy one. However, unlike Artorius, she was showing signs of fatigue, which bothered Artorius. The sunset's harsh glare beamed onto Artorius face, causing him to squint. The safe shadow of the mountain pass was left behind. Aoife let out a sigh of relief. 'Phew, one mountain pass down, one more to go.' Artorius' jaw dropped.

'What? Are you kidding me!? That took hours!' He said with frustration in his voice.

'Aww, don't worry, the next one is much shorter then that.' Aoife let out with giggle. Artorius let out another sigh of intense boredom. Luckily, the scenery gave him quite a view to behold, and Aoife was just as captivated as him. 'I grew up in The Rift ever since I was born, and it's beauty never ceases to amaze me.' Aoife said, gazing at the multi shaded leaves scattered around that crunched beneath their boots. Artorius' gaze slowly turned to Aoife. He only just took full note of her appearance, despite them being together for hours. His eyes darted up and down her delicate frame, her small stature gave her a very teenage look, making her look no older then eighteen or nineteen. But her most striking feature was her dark red hair that was about waist length, but swept over her right shoulder, that glowed in the dusk light. She wore leather armour similar to what thieves' wear, with a hood hanging just below her neck, and crossbow bolts lined the insides of her legs, and two eleven daggers crossed against the bottom of her spine. Artorius' eyes moved lower until he saw her rump, which he could not seem to draw away from.

_Stop it._ He tried to tell himself, but couldn't rip his gaze from them. He tried to turn his gaze to the scenery again, taking detailed notes in his head on the leaves, grass, and the indigo sky with an orange tinge to it…

_That ass. _Artorius let out a frustrated groan, and smacked his forehead with his palm. 'Stop it.' He whispered to himself. He continued to mutter to himself before being abruptly stopped by bumping into Aoife, who had stopped dead.

'Shh!' she raised a finger in front of him to signal him to stop. Her eyes darted between the trees, searched for what was agitating her. 'Crossbow please,' she asked. Artorius shook his head and let out a sigh of amusement,

'Nice try.' He said. Aoife did not turn towards him, but still asked again, this time with harsher tone.

'I need my crossbow please. Now.' Again, Artorius disobeyed her.

'You've got daggers. Use them.'

'Now Artorius would be a good time!'

'Why? There's…' Artorius' eyes met ten other pairs; '…no one around.' Bandits had been stalking them, each hungry for blood and gold. Aoife let out a groan of annoyance, and snatched the crossbow from Artorius' grasp, and loaded a bolt into it. The leader of the bandits, a Nord with blood red war paint, spoke forward,

'All right, give us your gold or we'll gut you like a horker!' He shouted with a booming voice. Aoife got out a septim, its golden gleam took the groups attention,

'You want our gold?' she said as she flicked it into the air. The whole group looked at it soar into the air, and Aoife took this chance to shoot the leader in the throat, piercing his Adam's apple, causing blood to gush out of it, spilling onto the ground, and sending his body crashing into the soil. Aoife caught the coin and tutted at his stupidity 'How about a bolt to the neck?' The entire group gasped together, Aoife smiled at her shot, and reloaded the crossbow, and Artorius' eye brows were raised. Some of the group fled the scene, halving their numbers. 'Ah, that's better, seemed a bit unfair with only two of us and ten of them. Shall we?' Artorius' mouth formed a smirk.

'Come on, let's dance.' He said while flexing his arms, and unsheathed Retribution. Aoife unsheathed her daggers at the same. The bandits split into pairs, circling the duo, like a wolf circling its prey. Except the prey was a dragon. The bandits charged at them, engaging Artorius, who swung Retribution with ease, smashing it into one of the bandits, causing him to fall to the ground, the other dodged out of the way, and threw himself again at Artorius, who swung his fist at the bandits face, breaking his cheek bone, and launched him into a nearby tree. Artorius finished him with a stab to the spine, creating a miniature blood fountain to burst from his back, which died down quickly. Aoife was faring just as well, already killing a bandit by slicing his throat open, the other swinging his axes at her wildly, which she swiftly dodged all of them, and stabbed him in the hand, causing the axe to drop on the ground with a clutter. She finished him of with a swift stab to the eye, tearing his eye out, which she pulled of the end of her dagger. Artorius kicked all the bandits on the side before remarking, 'Impressive.' Aoife sheathed her daggers and retrieved the bolt from the leaders' throat.

'Th-thanks.' She panted, before slumping herself next to a rock.

'Hey, are you alright?' a concerned Artorius asked. Aoife was heavily panting, taking deep, heavy breaths.

'I'm really tired.' She gasped. They had been walking for hours without rest, something that Artorius can do with ease, but for anyone else, it is difficult. He shook his head at her and crouched so that he was face to face with her.

'You've to tell me about these things you know.' He said. He looked around for a place to set up camp, and helped Aoife up. They arrived at a clearing far from the site of carnage they had just created. There was a running stream, so water was in plenty supply. Aoife slumped down noisily against another rock that she claimed. Artorius laughed at her. 'I'll gather some wood. You stay here.' Aoife lazily nodded, and leaned against a tree trunk. After a few minutes, Artorius gathered an arm full of wood, and started a fire, which warmed them both up very quickly. Aoife let out a long, heavy yawn, causing Artorius to yawn as well. 'Ha, you are tired.' Aoife let out her own laugh.

'It seems even a Daedra needs their rest, no?' she asked. The question made Artorius shift uncomfortably, he started into fire. 'Oh, I didn't realise it bothered you, I'm sorry.'

'Don't be. It wasn't your fault that my mother got raped by a Daedra.' Aoife recoiled at his response.

'Raped?'

'Yes. By Molag Bal.' Aoife's eyes widened at that name.

'By him? I didn't…' she was about to carry on, but changed the subject to avoid a fight with each other. 'You have a strange name for a Nord.' Artorius' smile returned to him, which warmed Aoife up, knowing she found a topic that he liked.

'Yeah, it belonged to one of my ancestors, who was an Imperial, and the Arch Mage of Morrowind, if I'm not mistaken. I'm no mage though.' He said with a laugh. His gaze turned to the dancing flames, watching them flicker and twirl in the air, but still noticing Aoife getting closer to him. 'So, what about your name?'

'My father gave it to me; said I look like a fighter. Do I?' she asked. Artorius looked at her to answer, but turned away and scratched the bridge of his nose, making Aoife giggle at him. Her smile eventually died down, her face changed to one of concern and worry. Artorius read her mind.

'I'm sure he's O.K.' he said while putting a hand on her shoulder. Aoife tried to smile, but to no avail.

'I hope so, he has been getting worse as the days pass, he's only eleven, and has always been a sickly child.' Aoife let out with a concerned sigh.

'How old are you, by the way?' Artorius asked, seeing an opportunity, Aoife gave a sly smile, and answered,

'That's not a question you can ask a girl, you know.' Artorius blushed, and ruffled his blonde hair, before turning away from her. Aoife laughed at him again, this time louder and more hysterically. 'You're so easy to wind up!' she exclaimed, still laughing at him. When she eventually stopped, she got even closer to him, but to her dismay, Artorius noticed, and shuffled away from her. Aoife tutted under her breath. 'I turn twenty three in Mid Year.' Artorius did not look at her, which annoyed her. 'And you.'

'Turned twenty three at the end of Morning Star, so I'm six months your elder.' It felt nice for Artorius to talk to someone other then a sentient, shape-shifting blade, someone he could potentially open up to, but currently, with her teasing, that was unlikely to happen. After a brief silence, Aoife asked one more question.

'Any siblings?' she asked. Artorius stared into the fire for a while, his storm grey eyes filled with nostalgia, distant memories of good and bad times, which Aoife picked up on immediately.

'I _had _a brother, but he died protecting me.' He said. Aoife yawned again before asking again,

'From?' Artorius laughed at her constant questions. Shaking his head, he gently pushed Aoife to the ground.

'Come on, story times over now, go to sleep.' Aoife nodded her head in agreement, and soon fell into a deep slumber. Artorius returned his gaze to the slowly diminishing fire.

'Can I speak now?' a voice behind him asked. Artorius turned to see Retribution's black blade glowing blue from the daedric runes running down the centre of the blade. The sapphire gems embedded in the skull face on the hilt flickered when it spoke. 'You've been ignoring me.'

'Sorry friend, I've been busy telling stories to my new friend.'

'I know. I've been planted in this spot for half an hour. I tend to notice things. But my question is, do you trust her?' the sword questioned. Artorius looked at Aoife, who was curled into a ball, like a puppy sleeping. He scratched his chin in thought.

'I do and so should you.' He told the blade.

'Then, I trust your judgement Artorius. I'll keep watch, as always. Have a good rest.' Artorius nodded his head in agreement, and leant against the tree trunk, and nodded of into a deep sleep.


	15. Darkest Darkness Chapter 6

_The house was burning in a crimson inferno; Daedra shouted and taunted us left to right_, _at our pain in great pleasure. 'Get up! up, up, UP!' she screamed at us, I stumbled out of bed, falling to the floor, choking on smoke, my brother did the same, doing better then me, and helped me up, 'Come on, Arty, we've got to get moving.' cried mother 'you too Lucian.' My brother and I ran out of the room, and headed towards the nearest exit, only to find it burning down and blocked of, we sprinted to the next corridor, and looked for a window, anything to get us out of this hell hole, our mother shouting at us to run and to keep going. We heard his voice down stairs, taunting us._

'_Oh Elana, where are you? You've not been in my kitchen for the past seven years, getting hungry down here!' Our mother let out a gasp of fear._

'_Oh gods, he's here.' My brother and I looked at her._

'_Who's here?' we asked_

'_Your father. Come on, let's keep moving.' We ran further down into the house arriving at the down stairs living room, which was also on fire, we ran towards the kitchen, and I saw him. He burst through the kitchen door, in his true and terrible form. Our mother put her arms in front of us, trying to protect us from the demon._

'_Ah, there you are Elana, I've been looking for you, and my bed has been very…cold without you.' He said through an evil smile, teeth bearing at us. _

'_Get the hell away from us!' she screamed, still holding on to us._

'_Us? Why, there is no one…' His fiery gaze found mine, and his smile widened. 'Hello, I don't think we've met, little one.' He came closer to me, taking long strides with his clawed, green legs._

'_I SAID GET THE HELL AWAY FROM US!' my mother screeched, and slashed his face with a kitchen knife, temporarily, stunning him, giving us enough time to run away from our father. We ran up to the front door, unoccupied for some reason, and mother stopped us. 'Kids, I want you to run. Run for lives and never look back. Go to the safe house, and open the vault with your amulets, and take everything from there, and then keep running. Do you understand?' she asked, trying to keep her tears back. My brother and I shook our heads in agreement, and she gave us one, final hug and kisses each, 'I love you both so much.' Tears had finally over whelmed her, and she started to sob. She pushed us along, and we ran out of the door. I went against my mothers wishes, and turned around, and watched as he burst through the door._

'_Time to come back to oblivion with me, Elana!' he boomed with laughter._

'_Like hell I am!' she screamed back. Molag laughed at her, and kicked her to the ground, and he then knelt on top of her, and with a huge, green claw, tore her heart from her chest, while it was still beating. _

'_NOOOO!'_

* * *

Artorius woke with a start. He was panting heavily, sweat matted his forehead, and his skin turned a sickly pale colour. He wiped his forehead with his bare hand, and sat back, trying to catch his breath. A gentle voice whispered behind him. 'Hey, are you alright?' the voice asked. Artorius turned around to find the source. Aoife was standing over him, head tilted to the side, eye brows creased in concern. 'You look like you've just seen a ghost.' Artorius stared into her verdant green eyes, trying to tell her, but ended up stumbling on his words, and gave up with a sigh. Aoife looked towards the fire, and back at him, 'I've made you breakfast, It's only rabbit, so don't get your hopes up.' She joked with a smile.

'Thanks.' Was all Artorius could say, still breathing heavily from his dream. Aoife was getting gradually more concerned for him, Artorius rarely got scared of things, so this must have been very frightening for him, she thought to her self, and got closer to him, trying to comfort him.

'Do you want to talk about it?' she asked with a hushed tone. Artorius shook his head, and to Aoife's relief, colour started to come back to his face. His breathing returned to normal, and began eating, which made Aoife sigh with relief. They ate in silence, which bothered Aoife, because she wanted to learn more about Artorius, but that clearly bothered him, so she didn't bother, and carried on eating. After their breakfast, they packed up their belongings and headed on out. The journey through the second mountain pass was uneventful, and Artorius was still not speaking, occasionally sighing, and Aoife was trying to make conversation, but to no avail. Ever since the battle in Cold Harbour, Artorius had been plagued by these nightmares, and every night they were the same. Aoife finally gave up, and stopped him. 'What's wrong Artorius? You've been really quiet. Normally I can't get you to shut up, but I don't like it when you're quiet willingly, it bothers me.' Artorius still did not reply, and tried to push Aoife away, but she stood her ground. Despite knowing each other for just only a day, Aoife had grown fond of Artorius, and vice versa, although he did show it all the time. Eventually, Artorius gave up trying to push her away. 'Could you at least talk to me?' she pleaded. Her eyes begged him with their vibrant, glowing green shine, and Artorius eventually gave in.

'Oh, alright then.' He sighed. Aoife smiled at his response, and let go of his arm. He sighed again, and carried on walking. 'So, what do want to talk about?' he asked. Aoife smiled, and asked a simple question, to take his mind of the nightmare.

'What was your first job as a mercenary?' she asked, hoping it wasn't related to his troubles. Thankfully, it wasn't.

'Well, I had to kill a leader of a group of bandits near the White River.' He replied.

'How'd it go?' she asked.

'Well, first I had to get past a blind bodyguard, that was fun, then kill a few body guards in my way, then fight the leader, Iron something, and killed him by booting him of the ledge. Good times.' A smile finally found its way to his face, which Aoife found relaxing, and made her smile in the process. 'So what was your first job, anything exciting?' he asked

'Not really, only 3 bears with Grazog helping out.' She said with a groan. Clearly, she did like not Grazog.

'You two get on?' Artorius asked.

'At first we did, he said he'll help me and my family out, but he's only in it for the gold. He treats me like crap, I feel like a meat shield and a map to him.' said Aoife. 'Gods, I hope he's lost.' Artorius laughed at her remark. He went to ask another question, but was drowned out by Aoife, 'LOOK OUT!' she shouted, forcing Artorius to roll to the side, narrowly dodging a flaming ball of death that landed on the spot where they stood. A roar pierced the air, followed by another jet of flame, which scorched the ground, turning it jet black with orange dots here and there. 'Dragon!' Aoife shouted again.

'No, really?' said a sarcastic Artorius, 'I thought it was a giant goat with wings.' Aoife rolled her eyes and sighed, and got out her crossbow. Artorius took out Retribution, and got ready for a fight. The dragon swooped low, to high for Artorius, but low enough for a shot with the crossbow, Aoife shot a bolt into the side of the dragons side, doing little damage. Aoife took another shot, this time directly into the dragons eye.

'Bull's-eye.' Aoife said a big smile on her face. The dragon crashed into the ground, blind in one eye, but still alive.

'Dragon's-eye, actually.' Artorius pointed out. Aoife looked at him in disappointment, but in his defence, he raised his hands as if to say 'I'm right though.'

'Since you've done nothing, why don't you go and finish it of then?' she retorted. Artorius stared at her with a smile, and responded with a simple.

'O.K.' with that, he sprinted at the dragon, dodging all the gouts of fire throw at him. He leapt at the dragon, slashing its face three times in quick succession, making the dragon roar in pain, and tried to counter with a clamp of its jaws, which only managed to scrape Artorius' ebony gauntlet, creating a silvery line on it. The dragon swiped it's with its wing at Artorius, which he swiftly dodged, and jumped onto the head of the dragon, who then shook its head violently to try and shake him of. While holding on to the dragons head, Retribution shifted into a pair of spiked gauntlets, still aglow with its familiar blue aura. The dragon stopped swinging its head, hoping Artorius flew of somewhere. His gauntlets were grasping the top of its jaw, and he started to pull the jaw towards the dragons body, flesh and skin started to tear, blood gushed out of the tear points, the dragon wailed in pain, trying to shake Artorius of it's head, but he still kept pulling at the dragons jaw. More muscle and flesh tore, bones from the upper jaw pierced into the mouth, until Artorius gave it one, final pull, and tore its upper jaw, blood spilling everywhere. The dragon gave one last gurgle before dropping to the ground in a heap. Artorius leapt of the dragon, tossing its jaw aside while Retribution shifted back into its regular great sword form. Aoife stared at him in complete awe. 'What?' he asked. Aoife gasped in awe, completely speechless. Artorius shrugged and walked of from her, but behind him, a familiar voice simply said,

'Show-off.'


	16. Darkest Darkness Chapter 7

Arcwind Point finally came into view, the stone pillars rose into the sky, Nordic coffins littered the area, with an elaborately decorated one located at the centre. The whole ground was white with snow; hardly anyone has been here from the look of it. Artorius and Aoife let out a synchronized sigh. 'Finally!' Artorius exclaimed, 'Felt like we've been walking for ages!'

'We've been walking for ten minutes.' Aoife remarked. Artorius ignored her, and walked down the slope, with Aoife behind. The snow beneath Aoife's feet collapsed, and she tumbled into Artorius while yelping, forcing them both down the slope in a heap, and landed with Aoife lying on top of Artorius. They were face to face, both blushing a bright shade of pink. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Artorius broke the silence.

'Well, this is awkward.' He pointed out. Aoife groaned and rolled of him.

_Gods, he is terrible with women._ Aoife thought to herself, and got up with her back to Artorius, who was still lying in the snow. He eventuallygot up, patting his shoulders to shake of the snow. 'Are you hurt?' he asked, Aoife didn't answer him immediately

'No.' she eventually managed to say, and pushed pass Artorius, who was left confused by her reaction, and just followed her towards the centre coffin.

'Are you sure you're O.K.?' He asked again. Aoife groaned yet again.

'Yes, so stop asking me.' she answered with a hint of anger in her voice. Artorius shook his head and shrugged, still oblivious to what he had said to her. As they stepped onto the metal plating near the centre, it sent out a sharp ringing noise, alerting all the sleeping draugr that slept in the surrounding coffins. They slowly came forth and surrounded the duo, who had their weapons at the ready. The draugr slowly stumbled towards them, moaning like they do, occasionally mumbling in dragon tongue. Aoife and Artorius leapt at them, making quick work of them, and they crumpled to the floor in a bony heap. They both reunited in the centre again, Aoife still looked angry with Artorius.

'What?' he asked, Aoife blinked in answer. 'What?' Artorius asked again. Aoife opened her mouth to respond, but was cut short by the crack of the centre coffins lid as it hit the floor. From the coffin, a dragon priest rose, and gave shrill cry before a staff formed in his hand, and a flame flickered in his other.

'Oh no, I'm not in the mood right now.' Aoife warned to the dragon priest, who was oblivious to her warning. 'If you charge that spell…' The dragon priest ignored once more, and began to charge his fire ball. 'Right that's it!' Aoife shouted. She dodged the fireball that harmlessly flew into the background and dissipated in the cold air. She got out her crossbow and fired a bolt that severed of the priests' hand that was charging the fireball. With its staff, it fired a streak of lightning that nearly hit Artorius. Aoife leapt at the priest, and with a swift cross of her daggers, severed the head, and the remains fell to the ground. She stood up and sheathed her daggers, and looked around at her surroundings, before announcing, 'Come on, let's head back.' A dazed Artorius snapped back into action.

'Wait, what? Why?' he asked. 'It's got to be here, some where.' Aoife turned to him.

'Look around you! There's nothing here! Just ruins and some dusty corpses, the sword is not here! I'm wasting time, my brother is dying, while I'm here pissing about and getting nowhere!' she screamed at the top of her lungs and sat on the floor next to a pillar. Artorius recoiled at her rant.

''I'?' he asked.

'Yes, 'I', this is my problem Artorius, not yours. You might as well leave. I don't care anymore.' She said, ruffling her hair in irritation. Artorius knelt in front of her, with a tone of concern and honesty, told her,

'It's not just you, alright? I'm here to help you out, and I don't need to help you, but I want to help you, because if I left now, I would have the death of a child on my mind, and that would really bother me.' Aoife looked at him directly in the eyes, lost in the ethereal grey of them. There was something about them that she couldn't seem draw away from. 'It's 'we' and 'us' now, got it?' he emphasized. Aoife simply nodded her head in agreement, and was helped up by Artorius. 'Now come on, help me look for an entrance or something.' They searched the entire ruin up and down, looked in each coffin, and eventually both peered into the centre coffin, and found something.

'A lever?' Aoife asked. Artorius reached out and pulled it, causing the ground to shift and form a spiral staircase around the coffin, leading to a door at the bottom.

'How did we not see that?' Artorius said while shaking his head.

'Well, you are pretty blind.' Aoife said with a smile.

'I'm not.' Artorius replied. Aoife raise an eyebrow at him. 'Yeah well…trees can move.' Aoife laughed at him, and followed him down the stair case. The rusted iron door, creaked open, and revealed an incredibly dark corridor. Artorius turned to Aoife, 'Got a light?' Aoife thought about it for a bit, and eventually conjured up a small ball of light that illuminated the corridor so you could make out the door way to the other corridor. 'That'll work.' He said with a smile.

They proceeded down the corridor, lead by the small floating ball that hovered with a low humming sound. The two continued down the corridor, before Aoife tripped over something. Artorius turned around to see to her. 'Had a nice trip?' he asked with a mischievous smile.

'Yeah, yeah, funny guy.' She answered sarcastically.

'Sorry, couldn't resist.' His smile turned to a frown. 'What did you trip over?' he asked.

'I don't know; bring that light over here, it felt soft.' Artorius obeyed and brought the light closer to the floor. Aoife screamed at the sight, and Artorius jumped a pace. It was a body. It looked fresh, almost like it was sleeping, except it was screaming, without the sound. Artorius crouched down to inspect it closer, looking for signs of death, and found nothing. He turned to the eyes, to find them blank and white, not pupils or iris, just the white sclera. Artorius flicked one of the eyes with his middle finger. 'Don't do that, that's disgusting.' Aoife told him.

'Making sure he's dead.' Artorius answered.

'And that's how you make sure?' Aoife asked while retching slightly.

'Ever been flicked in the eye? Freaking hurts.' After making sure the body was dead, the duo continued down the corridor, and Aoife turned to question Artorius.

'So, what happened to him?' she asked.

'No idea. Found no wounds on him, no burn marks, nothing. It's like…'

'Like?'

'….Like his soul just left him.' Artorius finished. Aoife gulped at that point. She wanted to turn around so badly, but she knew that she would let her brother down. _Besides,_ she told herself, _I'm not alone. _The two continued down the corridor, with only the sound of their footsteps telling them their fine. Suddenly, Artorius stopped. 'Wait.' Aoife spun around to face him.

'What is it?' she asked, trying to hide her sense of dread.

'Did you here that? It sounded like…' Footsteps behind them were getting louder. Aoife started to panic. _Please, please, please do not tell me that body has got up and followed us, _She thought to herself, her hands started to get clammy and sweaty, her breathing became noticeably heavier. Artorius came closer to her, which calmed her down considerably, and focused on the footsteps, which were very loud now. Artorius noticed something. There were more then one set of footsteps, two sounding light, and one heavier set that followed those two, faster, lighter ones. Eventually, a voice was heard,

'Hey look, a light!' a voice said, it sounded familiar.

'That must mean…' another one sounded, equally familiar.

'There are…' two small figures emerged from the door way, followed by a much larger figure.

'PEOPLE!' Both of the voices said in unison.

_Oh crap, anyone but these two _Artorius though to himself. The two wood elf twins stepped into the light; both had wide grins on their tanned faces.

'Aoife! Artorius! There you are!' they said, also in unison.

'Hey Erthor, hey Valindor.' Aoife said, who judging from her tone, was also not pleased to see them. Grazog stepped forward, bags under his eyes from a restless night.

'You have no idea what it's like sharing a camp with these two.' He grumbled.

'Nice to see you to.' Artorius sighed. Grazog exchanged a look with him, one that basically said 'I hate you.' Artorius sighed again, with even more irritation.

Aoife and Grazog exchanged nods and Grazog took the lead.

'Alright, let's get this damn thing and get out of here.' He told the group. The twins nodded at him and followed his foot steps. Aoife and Artorius hung back slightly, Aoife whispered to him.

'Something tells me that things have gone from bad to worse.' Aoife admitted.

'I completely agree.'

'We're totally in synch right now.'

'You two, stop lagging behind!' the orc bellowed.

'Yep, you're right' Artorius said to Aoife. As they continued down the corridor, the orc gave up telling the Bosmer to shut up, and decided to try and endure the twins constant humming, which annoyed Artorius incredibly so that he literally itched with annoyance. Aoife didn't mind so much, it kept her from freaking out, that and Artorius' company. The group walked through a seemingly endless stream of corridors, and stopped abruptly when the ground shook violently. They turned to the Bosmer twins, who trailed behind because they got to carried away humming 'The Dragonborn comes.' They looked at the other three looking at them.

'Don't look at us.' They said. The ground shook again, this time making them stumble. Aoife peered down the corridor they had just walked down. The shadows grew rapidly, Aoife's eyes darted back and forth from the torch Grazog held, but it wasn't going out.

'Guys.' She said. The group looked at her with inquisitive looks. 'RUN!' she sprinted for her life down the hall way, followed closely by Artorius and Grazog, who demanded answers from her, 'Just keep running!' she shouted back, they arrived at a small square room with torches, Grazog quickly lit them, illuminating the room with a strange, green hue. Aoife and Grazog gasped for breath, unlike Artorius, with the help of his daedric strength and stamina, breathed at normal speed. 'Where are the twins?' Aoife gasped. On cue, the Bosmer screams were heard from behind. Artorius spun around.

'Shit!' he said out loud. The Bosmer where trapped by tendrils of darkness, that were dragging them into the abyss. Artorius sprinted towards them.

'No, don't!' Aoife shouted, but Artorius ignored her, and slid on his stomach to try and catch their hands.

Too late.

The Bosmer screamed in agony as they were dragged further into the hole, until the darkness and shadows consumed them, and melted into the floor, the shadows backed off, light forced them back, and shrunk back to their normal size. Artorius was left clasping air, stunned at his failure. Grazog merely grunted, and walked off. Artorius was still on his stomach, staring at his hand, until a sound behind him unfroze him.

'You…you did what you could.' Aoife managed to say, trying to smile. She offered a hand, which Artorius took, and got to his feet. Aoife unwillingly stared into his eyes, lost in the ethereal grey once more, and she could swear she saw lightning crackle in them from time to time.

'Could I have my hand back, please?' Artorius asked, with a raised eyebrow. Aoife looked at his hand, still clamped in hers. She yanked it away a bit to fast, and blushed while apologizing repeatedly, which Artorius ignored, and walked towards the next door, leaving Aoife behind. She sighed to herself before following his lead. Eventually they, met with Grazog, who thankfully was incredibly slow.

'About time you two caught up.' He grumbled, and gave a sharp look towards Artorius, who ignored him and looked him in the eye, as if to say 'I hate you so much.' Grazog said nothing as well, and carried on walking forward. Aoife come up Artorius, who was looking in the corner of his eyes in thought.

'You need to stop blaming yourself, it wasn't you're fault.' She said with a reassuring smile. Artorius tried to protest, but ended up just smiling instead. They continued to walk down the corridors every now and then making sure the shadows weren't getting ready to attack them. After a few more minutes of walking, they stumbled across a great, black iron door. It stretched up to the ceiling, and was heavily damaged that it almost didn't serve its purpose anymore. Artorius took a deep breath, and went to push the door open, and instead, his hand got caught by Grazog's hand.

'All right kiddos, end of the line.'


	17. Darkest Darkness Chapter 8

**A.N. I swear to god, Microsoft Word is trying to make me fail. Twice now its put ' spat Antonius' instead of 'said Artorius', i swear, if i see another 'Fragment (consider revising)', i'll gouge my eyes out. Anyways, tried to make a long, cool battle, so tell me what you think. Enjoy.**

* * *

Artorius and Aoife looked at Grazog with shock. He had a vicious smile on his face, revealing his over sized bottom teeth, eyes filled with amusement. Artorius ripped his hand away from Grazog's, 'What the hell are you on about?' Artorius demanded.

'You.' Grazog answered, his smile grew even bigger. 'You can't seriously expect me to allow you to get your grubby mitts on the sword. It's mine.' Aoife steeped forward, equally as confused as Artorius.

'You…you used us.' She said quietly. Grazog gave a short, sharp laugh.

'Of course I did. Now, since you've used your purpose, I'm going to have to tie up some loose ends, aren't I.' Grazog laughed again, unsheathing his war hammer while he said it.

'You mean kill us.' Aoife said again, slightly louder and angrier.

'Aww, don't worry. You're deaths won't drag me down. Besides, it'll suit you. I mean, look at those idiot twins, by Malacath, was I happy when they died. Do you know what it's like to be kept up all night by two really high pitched voices singing 'Ragnar the Red' over, and over again?' Grazog scoffed. He put his war hammer so it leant on his shoulder.

'Now, don't move and I promise I'll make this relatively painful. Relatively.' Aoife shook her head in confusion and frustration.

'I thought you were helping me out, Grazog. I though you promised to help out my family and brother.' Aoife told him. 'I thought you were helping my brother.' Grazog raised an eyebrow, before heartlessly asking.

'What makes you think I give a shit about your brother? You more naïve then I thought.' Grazog laughed once more. Aoife recoiled at his answer. Artorius shook his head in disgust.

'You're sick.' He said, 'You're an absolute disgrace. You're not even worth my fist.'

'Ha, got your boyfriend on me? While you cry behind his back? You're pathetic, Aoife.' Aoife had enough, her anger inside made her snap violently, and she lunged at the orc with all her might, screaming at him.

'You back stabbing, inbred piece of horker shit! I'm going to kill you and everyone you know!' she shouted, slashing his face with her daggers. The orc's tiredness coupled with Aoife's ferocity and hate, proved to be his down fall, he wailed and cried for her to get of, but Aoife kept slashing at him, while Artorius simply looked on in horror. Grazog eventually stopped wailing, and gave in to his wounds, but that did not stop Aoife, and continued to desecrate his corpse. 'I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!' she screamed, and kept screaming until Artorius intervened, and pinned her arms against a wall.

'Hey, hey! That's enough.' He said, not quite shouting, but loud enough for her to hear.

'Get off me! I'm not-'

'Yes you are! Enough Aoife!' Artorius said, slightly louder this time. Aoife stopped struggling in his grip, and looked him in the eyes. Blood and sweat plastered her hair to her face, ruining her good looks. Her leather armour also covered in blood, she was breathing heavily, and started to shake after her adrenaline rush died down, her normal, pale skin colour returned to her face, and she started to breath more calmly.

'I…I thought he was going to help me.' She said solemnly. Artorius let out a deep sigh.

'I know he did, but he lied. But that also doesn't matter now, alright? Because I'm going to promise you instead, that I WILL help you and your problem O.K.?' Artorius calmly vowed. Aoife looked him in the eye; turning them a greyish green caused by her reflected eyes. 'I promise.' He repeated. Aoife no longer tensed, and breathed calmly out, lost in the stormy eyes. He knew his fair share of pain and suffering too, it seemed. 'Now come on, let's go get that sword, and get back to Clavicus.' Aoife nodded, and was released from Artorius' grip, and gently put on the floor. Artorius handed her a cloth, and she gratefully accepted it, wiping her face from the blood and sweat, and tried to give it back.

'Umm…yeah, you can keep that.' Artorius said, pushing his hand against hers. She giggled and placed it in one of her pouches. Artorius turned to open the black iron door, when Aoife called out to him.

'Artorius.' she called. He looked behind him.

'Hmm?'

'Thank you.' She smiled.

'For the hanky? No problem.' He replied.

'I meant for everything.' She smiled again. Artorius caught her smile, and smiled back.

'Save it for when we get back, alright?' Aoife nodded, and helped him open the door. It creaked open with a rusty scrape and eventually opened all the way, revealing a large chamber with pillars lining it, the ceiling was a lot higher then the corridors, the duo had to crane their necks to look at the top. At the centre of the chamber, was a figure, kneeling at a black sword that glowed with an evil shade of purple. The figure was dressed in black, with darkness excreting from the openings in his armour. The blade that he was kneeling at couldn't be anything else but what they were after.

'That must be it.' Aoife whispered, trying to not alert the knight. However, he was well aware of their entrance, thanks to the fantastic door.

'More souls for my sword to devour.' He spoke with a deep, menacing voice. He stood up and pulled the sword out of its resting place, he was about a head taller then Artorius, and much broader then him. However, this did not faze him one bit.

'Alright, let's kill this clown and get out of here.' Artorius said, slightly bored in his tone, and charged forward, sword ready to pierce him. The Black Knight waved his hand, and the shadows in the room sprang to life, and swatted Artorius away, sending him sailing into a wall, making it crack under the force of the impact. Artorius slid to floor, shaking his head. '…or not. Right, time for Plan B.'

'And that is?' asked Aoife, while helping him up.

'Beat the living crap out of him until he dies, while dodging the massive fly swatters he can summon, all while trying to stay alive in general.' He ordered.

'You just made that all up didn't you?' Aoife asked, slightly worried about his plan.

'Completely and utterly.' He sighed. Aoife sighed along side him, and get ready to battle the Knight.

'This tomb will now be yours, mortals.' the knight announced, and started to slowly walk towards them, and the walk turned into a sprint. He swung Umbra with great power, but lacked speed, so the duo dodged away from each other, splitting them up. The knight swung at Aoife, but she was far to fast for him, and shot a bolt that hit him in the elbow joint. However, he ripped it out, still able to swing his sword with ease, and barely scraped Aoife's arm. She rolled back to avoid another swing, and Artorius leapt at him, but was swatted aside again by a shadow, and landed on the floor instead. He groaned and picked himself up, and decided not to jump at this guy, and instead just sprint at him. He lunged at close range and slashed him in the back, forcing the knight to counter another blow that was aimed at him. Swords slammed against each other, creating sparks that fizzed when they hit the floor, blow contoured blow, and neither side were getting tired. The two blades struck again, and were engaged in a struggle, locked against each other.

Aoife saw this opportunity, and lunged at the knights' neck, stabbing him in both sides. The knight howled in pain and anger, trying to shake Aoife of and try and beat Artorius. Aoife twisted her daggers, forcing the knight to lose the sword lock, giving Artorius a chance to stab him in the torso, causing him to fall to his knees. With great strength and speed, Artorius threw him while he was still on the blade, smashing him into a pillar. The duo exchanged nods, and split again. The knight burst forth from the rubble, and released a blade made from darkness that split another pillar cleanly in two missing Aoife, who dodged out the way just in time. She went to fire another shot from her crossbow, but was throw aside by a shadow and fell to the floor. Artorius went to attack the knight, but he melted into the floor in a puddle of darkness, forcing Artorius to smash the ground with a war hammer, making it crack and shatter from the force of the blow. The knight reappeared behind him, and dealt a blow to the face, slicing it open, and sending him dazed to the ground. Aoife sliced at the knights' legs, forcing him to the ground, and slashed at his face when she got up, causing blood to gush out. To her horror, he healed faster then Artorius does, and got up with a crack of his neck. 'Oh no.' she said to herself, she looked to Artorius, who had to begin to get up, face healed, thanks to his daedric blood. The black knights took this opening, and lifted Aoife up by her neck, choking her for a few seconds, and then slammed her against the wall repeatedly, until she passed out from the pain, and fell to floor in a heap.

The knight turned to Artorius, and gave him a sharp kick to the face, sending him flying across the room. Artorius' mouth started to bleed, and tried to get up again, only to be swatted aside by another shadow. The shadows kept him on the floor, and could only watch as the knight walked towards him. His gaze turned to Aoife, who had only just started to wake up. She was still weak though, and could only watch helplessly too as the knight neared Artorius. He struggled with all his strength to get out of this, but to no avail. 'Now you're soul is mine!' laughed the knight and lifted his sword up.

'No…' Aoife said feebly and tried to get up but collapsed to the floor again. The knight continued to laugh manically, and lifted his sword even higher. Artorius gave up struggling, and just lied there, waiting till he died. When he gave up, however, a voice to the side of him spoke.

'Seriously? You give up?' Retribution spoke. 'Have you already forgotten what your mother told you?' the sword asked. Artorius frowned, and then smiled as he remembered.

'Oh yeah…' he whispered. He looked at the knight, who was still laughing. Artorius shook his head. 'By the nine, SHUT THE HELL UP! He shouted, as soon as he shouted 'up', he released a blue, electrical shockwave that sent the knight flying across the room and embedded into the wall. Aoife hid behind a pillar, protecting her from the harsh light he had just created, the shadows disappeared into the corners, cowering from the blue light. The light faded away, and Aoife was left speechless, eyes widened in shock and awe at Artorius, who had transformed into his Daedric Prince Form. He smiled at the knight, who was still embedded into the wall. 'Now you've really pissed me off.' Artorius spoke with a much deeper voice then normal, with a hint of distortion. The knight grunted and waved his hand multiple times at Artorius, trying to injure him with shadows, to no avail. Still he tried, with Artorius simply folding his arms in boredom.

'If it doesn't work the first time…' he said as he warped so he was right in front of the knight. 'Stop doing it!' he shouted while forcing the knight's face down to the ground with his fist. Aoife heard bones crack and break from the force of the blow, and reeled when she saw the knights face, which was deformed with broken bones and covered in blood. Artorius spin kicked him in the side of the head, sending him across the room, and smashing him into another pillar. With a wave of his hand, a golden light emitted from his right hand, and Goldbrand appeared, with its solar grade flames heating the room, and with his other, pulled Retribution towards him, who also shifted into a katana. 'Time for retribution to be dealt, Umbra.' He said in a cold voice.

The knight stood up, with a broken arm and face, sputtering blood. 'You cannot defeat me! I am Umbra, and I am everywhere!' the knight spluttered, more blood being sprayed onto the floor. Artorius snorted, and charged at the knight who tried to parry Artorius' onslaught of slashes, and ended up getting slashed and burnt by the blades, and howled in pain, staggering, and tried to counter with his blade, but Goldbrand was already there, and sliced the blade in half along with the knight, and both fell to the floor. Artorius stood there, and sheathed both blades before saying,

'Judgement has been dealt, and this is your price for your crimes, Umbra.' He said. He walked towards Aoife, before a voice behind him called out and said weakly,

'Thank you…' Artorius turned around to see that what was left of the knight, and he was replaced by a young man, barely into his teen years, from the look of him, who now looked very peaceful, despite his face being caved in. Artorius sighed, and returned back to his original form. He walked over to Aoife and offered her his hand, before sincerely asking,

'I hope I didn't scare you.' Aoife shook her head and was helped up.

'Are you kidding me? That. Was. Amazing.' She said with a childish giggle.


	18. Darkest Darkness Epilouge

Clavicus sighed for the fiftieth time while lying on top of his statue, his arms dangling lazily over the edge, swinging with little effort. Barbas slept soundly at the foot of the statue, snoring every now and again. Clavicus stared at the top of the cave, watching the icicles drip onto the floor. Clavicus was about to sigh again, but was interrupted by Barbas' sudden barking. 'Shut up, Barbas.' Clavicus moaned. Barbas ignored him, and kept on barking. 'I said shut up!' Barbas ignored him again, and barked even louder. Clavicus sat up. 'Shut the hell up, you stupid…' Clavicus was cut short by Artorius and Aoife's sudden appearance, and his mouth formed a toothy grin. 'Ah, the great warriors return! Say, what happened to the other three?' he asked, still smiling, obviously showing little care.

'They kind of…died.' Artorius said solemnly. Clavicus shrugged his shoulders and jumped to the ground.

'Oh well, it happens. Now then, back to business.' His smile grew even wider, 'I trust you have my sword?' Artorius removed the halves of the sword from his sack, and dropped them on the ground, making Clavicus give a girly scream. 'What happened to my beautiful, beautiful Umbra?' he shrieked. Aoife looked to Artorius, hoping he had an excuse of some kind. Lucky for her, he did.

'Well, if I recall correctly, you said 'Retrieve the mighty blade Umbra!' not 'Retrieve the mighty blade Umbra and keep it in one piece all while trying to survive the dungeon I'm sending you to and defeat the really hard guy at the end who wields the sword!' So we got it for you. It may not be in one piece, but we've got it, so be happy.' Artorius stated. 'Or else.' He leaned forward, threatening him with the back of his hand, making Clavicus back off, and put his hands up in defence.

'Hey, good observation, I was only foolin', you scratched my back, now I scratch yours.' He turned to Aoife, 'Ladies first.' Aoife looked to Artorius, who pushed her forward gently, but still making sure Clavicus wasn't about to run for it.

'Umm… I would like a cure, for my brother. He suffers from Brainrot, and if I don't hurry, he could…' she broke off, trying to hold back her tears. Clavicus looked at Artorius, who gave him a subtle nod.

'Oh alright then, don't want that pretty face of yours all sad now.' He chuckled. Clavicus placed one hand on top of the other's palm, and lifted his hand, making a bright green light form between his hands. The light eventually died down, and in its place was a vial of bright yellow and green liquid, contained in an elaborate glass vial. He held out the vial, and placed it in Aoife's hands.

'Th-Thank you.' She gratefully said, surprised he actually helped her out. Artorius raised an eyebrow at Clavicus.

'This is legit, right?' he asked.

'Of course it is. I only trick people I really dislike.' He smiled, winking at him while he said it. Artorius folded his arms, still not convinced, but had no choice but to believe him.

'So, what do you want, Blondie? Gold? Women? A new haircut?' he joked. Artorius pondered on the question for a few minutes, and eventually answered.

'Nothing.' He said. Clavicus' jaw dropped at the completely unexpected answer.

'Really? I mean, I've got to give you something. Anything?' he asked, still surprised at his answer.

'No thanks, I don't need anything.' Artorius replied, smiling at him. Clavicus rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, but then, shrugged, smiled and opened a purple portal behind him.

'All right then. Thank you again you two, it was quite amusing to watch.' He said under his trademark toothy grin. Barbas plodded towards the portal, and kicked in the rump by Clavicus, who laughed as the dog whelped into the portal.

'Ah ha, never gets old that one.' He laughed, and placed one foot into the portal. Artorius and Aoife began to walk away. A voice behind them called out to Artorius.

'I'll be seeing you around, Artorius, farewell!' it laughed. Artorius turned to face the voice.

'How do you know my…' he said as he turned around, but greeted by no one. '…name?' he whispered. He sighed, and followed Aoife to the exit.

-Outside Falkreath entrance-

Aoife was now sprinting towards the town, vial in hand. Artorius was also sprinting, keeping up with her with ease. They ran through the town, weaving through the crowd of people watching a bar brawl that had been taken outside. They eventually came to a house that looked run down and very old. Aoife opened it revealing a dimly lit room, small skeever scurried past their feet, and Artorius banged his head on the small door way, causing him to seethe through his teeth. His gaze fell upon a young boy, whose appearance appalled Artorius. His veins were pulsing, his skin was a unnatural pale colour, and his eyes were shut, his eyelids a dark purple. The boy looked like a twig under his quilt. If Artorius were to pick him up, he would fear that he would snap him accidently. By his side were two women, on looked aged and very tired, who Artorius guessed as the boy and Aoife's mother, due to her dark red hair, to her side sat Aoife, handing her the vial of green liquid. To her other side, sat another woman, who due to her aged looks like Aoife's mother, Artorius guessed that she was her aunt. The three engaged in hush conversation, until their gaze turned to Artorius. 'You must be Aoife's friend.' The mother asked. Artorius just nodded and stepped closer towards them. The aunt waved her hand at him.

'We do not need a strangers help.' She snapped. Aoife turned on her.

'No Aunt Branna, Artorius helped me, so you will treat him fairly' she protested. Branna went to argue back, but waved of by the other women.

'If Aoife is friends with Artorius, then so are we Branna.' The women said calmly.

'But Shauna, you know what happens when strangers interfere…' Branna began. The women know as Shauna waved her of again, and turned to Artorius again.

'Allow me to thank you for your help, Artorius.' Shauna said with a heavy tone of gratefulness. Before Artorius could answer, a shrill cry filled the room, Artorius, on pure instinct, gripped the hilt of his sword, and stared at the source of the scream. The boy stared at the ceiling of the tiny room, and started to shake and jerk violently. Artorius just stared at the boy, froze from confusion and shock, Branna woke him up however.

'You want to help?' she shouted 'Then help us now!' Artorius did not need any directions, and gripped the boys right arm and leg, stopping him from jerking, but not from the shaking, but enough for him to stay relatively still, Aoife was not doing so well, and had to be helped by her mother, stopped his left side from jerking as well, Branna poured the liquid into the boys mouth, trying to not spill to much on the bed. The women tried to force the concoction down the boys' throat, trying as much as she could to make sure he did not sick it back up. After the entire contents were emptied, the boy stopped resisting, and shut his eyes again. He wasn't breathing. Aoife and her mother started to cry, and hugged each other. Branna looked at the floor in shame and sorrow. Artorius looked up in anger. _Clavicus, if you've back stabbed us, I'm coming for your head. _He thought to himself. He was about to punch the wooden wall, until a soft cough was heard. He spun around, and to their relief, the boys veins stopped pulsating, and his skin lost that terrifying pale colour, and the purple eyelids also faded, making colour return to him. They stood in complete silence, and gasped as one when the boy revealed his red, blood shot eyes.

'Mother…?' he managed to croak. Shauna and Aoife leapt at the boy, and embraced him. Branna walked up to the three, and joined in the embrace, laughing and crying together. Artorius simply stood by, and smiled at the family _Clavicus, you're alright_ he thought to himself.

-Falkreath town entrance-

Artorius leaned against the gate post, waiting for Aoife to show up. Eventually she did, giving him the biggest smile he had ever seen cross her face. 'Someone's happy.' He laughed. Aoife simply shrugged, and leant against the post with him. 'So, what will you do know?' he asked. Aoife looked towards the house.

'I'll stay here for a while, making sure my brother doesn't do anything stupid, and makes a full recovery. You?' she turned to him.

'Not sure. I think I'll head over to Markarth, see what's going on over there.' He replied, smiling back at Aoife. They started at each other for a while, lost in each others gaze. Artorius eventually looked away first while blushing and Aoife smiled and laughed at him. 'Hey, got something for you.' He said while reaching for his side. He grabbed Aoife's hand, and placed a very large bag of gold in her hand. Aoife gasped with surprise.

'But this is your cut of the reward, why are you…' she began, but was cut of by Artorius.

'Your family need it more then I do.' He said, still smiling at her. Aoife leapt at him tearfully, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, holding back tears of joy, while making Artorius turn a bright red colour.

'Thank you Artorius. Thank you for everything.' She wept, still smiling however. Artorius stopped tensing, and hugged her back. They had to eventually pull themselves away from each other, as much as they didn't want to.

'You take care of your self now, alright Aoife?' he asked.

'Only if you promise to take care of your self.' She teased back. Both of them promised each other with a simple 'I promise.' Artorius started to head out, when Aoife called back to him. 'Watch out for those trees!' she laughed. Artorius turned to her with a face that said 'Haha very funny.' She laughed again, and waved at him, they waved at each other until they were out of sight from each other. Artorius stopped waving, and sighed with satisfaction. He turned again, and headed towards the Reach, humming to himself while the sun shone on him.

**A.N.**

**Woohoo! Another arc done and dusted, i really enjoyed doing this one. Artorius won't be back for a while now, since I've got exams to do until the 14th June, so don't expect any new chapters between now and then. I'll check back every now and then to see how the story is doing, but won't be writing. Anyway, enjoy what i've done so far, and hopefully, write and review. Stay cool people, and thanks for the praise so far.**

**Josh aka EarthScraper  
**


	19. The Old Gods Cometh Prolouge

A ray of sunlight illuminated the dark, dank altar room. A body wearing nothing but rags of various animals lay on the altar. Its skin was pale and dead, a gaping hole was visible on its chest, and not a heart beat could be detected from it.

A lone figure came into the altar room, wearing elaborate furs of regal beasts that prowled the Reach. The man held various herbs and spices, and a yellow plant that pulsed with malicious energy. The figure had a chiselled chin, a strong nose, and hard, squinty eyes, much like the corpse on the altar, and long, brown hair with streaks of silver in it. The man walked with a stride that demanded respect and fear. He placed all the herbs and spices on the table, and covered the body and plant with them. The plant seemed to grow slightly, and so did the body, its muscles bulged and skin tore, then healed over, forming steel like, leathery hide that reached all over his body. The priest raised the plant, which now pulsed violently with dark energy, making the room seem even darker and colder then before. A raspy voice echoed through the altar room.

_Oh Forgotten Ones_

_I offer this body in service of you_

_Oh Old Ones_

_I offer this soul in service of you_

_Oh True Ones_

_I offer this heart in service of you_

_Grant us Salvation!_

_Take this vessel as a tool for vengeance!_

Forcefully, the man shoved the heart into the corpse, and sewed the bindings as quickly as he could, the plant now nearly bursting with energy, and started to glow a vivid green colour. The man stood back, sweating and scratching his cheeks in anticipation. After a while, when nothing happened, the man slumped down onto the stone bench, and sighed heavily. The man lifted his head sharply when he thought the body moved, but sighed again, thinking it was a trick of the light, and carried on brooding.

Then the body twitched again.

And opened its eyes.

* * *

**A.N.**

**Sorry this took so long, been busy playing Dragon's Dogma and Dark Souls. I will be updating this story now regularly, so be sure to check every once in a while to read new chapters **


	20. The Old Gods Cometh Chapter 1

The thick, heavy breathing of the werewolf pack began to annoy Artorius; still, he could not help but smile at the sight of the six werewolves surrounding him, ready to tear him apart.

Of course they were going to.

'Oh boy, oh boy, looks like it's going to be one of those…' he paused, and a ridiculous grin appeared over his face. The werewolves' snarls grew even more aggressive and spiteful, but that only made Artorius' smile even bigger.

'…dog days.' He whispered, forcing the werewolves to fly into a blood frenzy. Artorius, despite wearing his usual ebony mail that was granted by Boethiah, managed to jump into the air with little effort, just above the werewolves' reach, and softly landed onto rocky outcrop. One werewolf leapt up at him, only to have its face smashed in by the war hammer form that Retribution took, and sent sailing over the hills.

'AND HE IS OUT OF HERE!' he roared. The other werewolves either did not care, or were not paying attention to their comrade, and jumped up at Artorius. Retribution had shifted into a pair of gauntlet and greaves intended for close combat, and Artorius swiftly executed one werewolf that got a _little_ too close to him. Another wolf swiped at his face, scraping his cheek, but thanks to his daedric blood, healed within seconds. The wolf was given a sharp jab to the gut, knocking the wind out of it, then had its shoulder popped out of place by a powerful kick, and finally, had its neck snapped by a dropping heel, killing it instantly.

The other wolves then descended upon him. Artorius dodged all the swipes incredibly swiftly, and stamped on one wolfs back, snapping its spine in two, while exclaiming, 'Down, boy!' The next wolf tried to bite Artorius, but instead had its neck caught in a head lock.

'Aw, you missed ball!' Artorius laughed while giving the werewolf a nuggie, then proceeded to break its neck with a sharp twist. The wolf fell to the ground in a heap. Artorius turned to the last wolf, the leader, who was looking terrified, but also incredibly angry.

'Say, want to go for a walk, little doggy?' Artorius asked. The alpha snarled even louder, and crawled slowly towards Artorius, who was still wearing his stupid grin. 'Come on boy, come on!' he said while beckoning with his hands, like how a master does with his pet dog. His giant, hairy, man dog. The wolf was very close to Artorius, who was backing off slowly. The wolf leapt at Artorius, who dodged at the last second, and caught the wolf by its claws, and rested his head on the wolfs shoulder, before saying mockingly.

'Bath time.' The wolf let out a startled yelp, and was thrown over the waterfall. It cried as it was sent sailing through the air, and landed with a loud splash. Peering over the waterfall, Artorius saw that the water turned a crimson red before being carried over the rapids and out of sight.

'Now that is a nice view.' Artorius said with a sigh.

'What is? The sunrise or the mass of fur and meat floating down the river?' Retribution asked sardonically. Artorius sighed and just shook his head, and sheathed the now transformed Retribution back into its holster.

'Come on, let's go back to Markarth.' said Artorius. Stepping over the other mangled and not-so-mangled corpses, Artorius made his way down towards the city of stone, Retribution clicking lightly with every step he took.

'By the way…' Retribution began. Artorius peered over his shoulder before it carried on. '…every single one of those jokes you made back there were terrible.' Artorius stopped dead before, after sighing a couple of times, answering.

'What!?' he replied 'They were great! Especially that dog days one.'

'No it wasn't.'

'Yes it was!'

'No it wasn't.'

'It was fan-'

'Enough let us just go.' Retribution sighed before going silent again. Artorius shook his head before letting out a small laugh, and carried on towards Markarth.

* * *

'I have just received word about a mound of dead, naked men off the side of the road, care to explain that?' Jarl Igmund asked in his usual, raspy voice.

'Hey, it's not my fault nature hasn't done its job and cleaned up the mess.' Artorius retorted.

'Nature rarely does its job on the roads. You could have at least done it in the hills somewhere.'

'Look, either way my jarl, I've done the job, so, can I have my pay now?' Artorius asked, getting slightly impatient. The jarls steward, Raerek, placed a bag of gold in Artorius' hands, a bag that was about half way full, much to the annoyance of Artorius, who donned a childish frown before adding the pay to his own gold, and began to walk off while huffing to himself.

'Wait, Artorius, I've got another job for you.' Igmund called. Artorius huffed again, and turned around.

'Alright, what is it?' he mumbled.

'Our scouts have reported that Forsworn have been recently sighted on the borders of Falkreath hold. We want you to go and warn Jarl Sigmund about the sightings, so that he may not be caught of guard.' Raerek said. Artorius couldn't help but laugh slightly.

'I doubt the Forsworn would attack Falkreath all of sudden.' Artorius scoffed.

'Even so, we must be cautious, and I want you to deliver the message personally.' Igmund rasped. Artorius rubbed the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb.

'It just sounds like a dangerous game of hop-scotch to me, but I'll go anyway, better then nothing I suppose.' He complained. Raerek handed him a letter with the details to Jarl Sigmund. Without a wave, Artorius set off, as much as he didn't want to go.

By the time Artorius got to the half way point, it was nearly midday. He was tempted to just rip the letter up and go somewhere else to find work, but in the space of two months, he had only just started to find work in Markarth, and he wasn't in the mood to go somewhere else to find work. The road to Falkreath was very boring, not even a bear decided to show itself to look for a fight. The midday sun would not show itself either, and hid behind a veil of cloud. After a long and incredibly boring silence, Retribution began speaking.

'Why the glum look, my friend?' Retribution asked. Artorius sighed before answering.

'This is a joke.' He mumbled.

'Even so, won't you see your 'friend' again?' the sword asked. Artorius picked up his head and smiled, and then it turned to a frown.

'She'll have moved back to Shor's Stone by now.' He said glumly.

'Long distance romance, eh? They never end well.' The sword mocked.

'Shut up.'

'So you're not denying it?'

'Shut up.' Artorius couldn't help but feeling guilty though, he promised to Aoife that he'd write to her every once in a while, tell her that he was fine, but had been far too busy with work and getting into bar fights. He wasn't sure how'd she react, but it probably wouldn't be a good reaction. Still, he pressed on. Occasionally, he'd look over his shoulder warily, and then carry on walking, getting progressively more agitated as time went on.

'What is it?' Retribution asked. Artorius didn't answer immediately and instead carried on searching his surroundings, before saying,

'It's nothing.'

* * *

Falkreath town was surprisingly active, people, who looked as if they hadn't seen sunshine for a few years, scuttled here and there, carrying various fruits and vegetables. Children ran through crowds of shoppers, chasing another child's pet dog. The air didn't seem as heavy as usual, nor was it raining. Everyone seemed generally happy to bask in each others presence.

'This is…unusual.' Artorius said quietly to himself, but still managed to capture a nearby guard's attention.

'Isn't it? Some say every since the old farmer died, his crops have seen a massive improvement, thanks to his spirit. Ha! I just hope it lasts.' He said while laughing slightly. Artorius shook his head, and entered the jarls long house.

A few hours later after much arguing about the meaning of the letter, Artorius gave up and stormed out of the longhouse, and attempted to storm out of the town gates. When suddenly, a young boy crashed into Artorius' side, and sent tumbling to the ground.

'Watch where you're standing!' he wailed while clutching his forehead.

'Well watch where you're going!' Artorius retorted. The boy stood trying to stand up to Artorius, a difficult feat for someone who barely comes up to the waist of the mercenary.

It was at that moment, Artorius recognized the boy. 'Hey, aren't you Aoife's brother?'

'Yeah, so what if I am?' the boy said, trying to sound intimidating. Then a wave of realization swept over the boy. 'Ah, you're Artorius!' he said while pointing directly at the warriors face.

'We didn't really introduce each other properly did we?' Artorius said while moving the boys' finger away from his face.

'Oh right, name's Connor.' The boy said. Despite being his saviour, he wasn't really teaching him like a hero, but Artorius didn't seem to mind, if anything it reminded him that he was pretty the much same when he was Connor's age.

'So, how's your family, kid?' Artorius asked him.

'They're okay, I guess.' Connor huffed. 'Well, the only real difference is that Aoife won't shut up about you.' Artorius raised an eyebrow at that detail.

'That seems a little strange, she managed to keep talking about me for two whole months, even though we've only been with each other for a few days?'

'She repeats most things, and I swear she made up some of it. I mean, you didn't really tear of a dragon's head with your hands? Did you?' Connor asked suspiciously.

'I might have done…' Artorius said, feigning his modesty. Connor gave a short, sharp laugh.

'Of course you did.' He sneered.

_You have no idea how awesome that felt._

'Well look kid; I got to go now, say hi to your family for me.' Artorius said before attempting to leave, before a small hand grasped his arm.

'You can tell them yourself! Come on.' He said while tugging the ebony gauntlet.

'I don't think that's a good idea…' Artorius said solemnly. The guilt of not telling Aoife how he was hung heavily around him, he hated breaking promises.

'Come on you big baby!' Connor said, still tugging at his ebony gauntlet. Artorius looked at the exit to the road, then back to Connor, and did this multiple times, before finally giving up deciding and complied to go to the house for five minutes, although Artorius had a terrible sense for time, so five minutes could be either five seconds or five hours. After a short walk, Artorius and Connor arrived at the house, which had seen a remarkable improvement, there was an actual door instead of a large wooden plank that was there before, and the house even had a second floor. Various plants grew in the garden, replacing the rotten flowers that were there before. In general, the woodwork had seen a clean up and looked as if it wasn't about to collapse. Connor entered the house swiftly and slumped onto the closest chair he could get a hold of. Artorius attempted to enter the house, and banged his head on the door frame.

_Not again…_

'Watch your head!' Connor laughed. Artorius just looked at him as if to say 'Shut up'. He then proceeded to enter the small house illuminated by the fireplace. There were three chairs around the fireplace, one which Connor had claimed for himself. A voice was heard from another room.

'Connor?' it said.

'Yeah?' Connor replied.

'Is that you Connor?'

'Yes!' he replied again, slightly annoyed.

'All right, no need to be short with me young man!' the woman said as she stormed in. The woman quickly took notice of Artorius, and bowed as if he was royalty.

'Hello Artorius, it is good to see you well.' Shauna said.

'You too, Shauna.' Artorius replied.

'Come, sit down.' She said while gesturing to the armchair with her hand. Artorius thanked her with a nod, and rested his weapons against the wooden, which caught Connor's attention immediately, making Artorius smile.

'Here, be careful with it.' He said while passing Goldbrand to him, to which he took very carefully. Connor let his eyes drift up and down the scabbard of the golden blade. Shauna sat in between the two, and turned to Artorius who was looking into the flames.

'So, how have you been Artorius, still working as a mercenary?' she asked.

'Yeah, wandering here and there, looking for the odd job. How have you all been?'

'I would have been grand, were it not for this little runt running around and causing trouble.' A croaky, but kind voice came from behind. 'Come on you, off my chair.'

'Aw Aunt Branna!' Connor moaned and sat on a wooden stool next to the chair he had just been sitting on, but still grasping onto Goldbrand eagerly. Artorius couldn't help but smile at the young mans curiosity, it reminded him so much of his own youth.

'Hmm, he has got a mischievous smile, hasn't he?' Branna said as she sat down, breaking Artorius' thoughts.

'Excuse me?'

'Well, Aoife said you have a rather cheeky smile about you, especially when you are thinking about something.' She explained.

'Yeah, she won't shut up about you' Connor added, and received ruffling of his hair by Branna.

'You are rather handsome, aren't you? Where do your parents come from?' Shauna asked. Artorius blinked before answering,

'My…mother comes from Skyrim, she was a Nord.'

'And your father?' Branna asked.

_From the fiery bowels of Rapist Hell. _

Artorius forced that thought down with a shudder, and instead settled with, 'Cyrodiil, he was an Imperial.' He said quietly. Shauna and Branna looked at each other with eye brows raised.

'I can see the Nord in you, the strong nose and jaw, and also the blond hair, but I can't quite see the Imperial in you.' Branna added.

'Yeah, a lot of people tell me that.' He said while ruffling his blonde hair. The women were still not happy with the answer, but just smiled instead, and returned their gaze to the fire.

Ten minutes later or something like that with Artorius' sense of timing, the front door opened, and a figure stepped into the living room.

'Hello dear.' Shauna said as stood up.

'Hello my beautiful wife.' The man said. Artorius immediately realized that this man was Connor and Aoife's father, due to the same nose and eye shape that Connor had, and the hair colour that all of them shared, albeit his was darker, like Aoife's hair. The two shared a kiss that made Connor do the typical thing a child does, and stuck his tongue out while retching.

'Where is the other one?' Branna asked.

'I'm in the kitchen!' a familiar voice replied.

'Well come here, we have a visitor!' Shauna replied.

'I'm busy!' the voice shouted. Branna just huffed in response.

'Young lady!' Shauna began.

'I'm twenty two!'

'I don't care how old you are, get in here!' Shauna commanded. Artorius had begun to snigger slightly, along with Eoghan, the father. Eventually, Shauna got up out of her seat, and stormed into kitchen, door closing behind her.

'Eh, sorry about Aoife, she gets stressful when making meals.' Eoghan said.

'I know.' Artorius replied with a laugh. Over the course of the few days they were together, Aoife had stressed out at every cooking session she had, twice she had thrown a whole rabbit over a great distance in rage, and twice she had to go and recover it in a huff.

Shauna came back into the living room looking extremely cross, and slumped down with little grace into her arm chair.

'I'm so sorry Artorius, but she insists of staying in the kitchen.' Shauna apologized.

'It's alright; I'll go see her myself.' Artorius replied, and entered the kitchen. A fire sat in the middle of the room, an iron pot hung over the fire, cooking a stew that smelt delicious, various herbs and spices hung around the room. Aoife ran up and down the room, completely ignoring the person who had just stepped into the room, who was now leaning against a wooden beam, watching the angry red head run up and down the cooking area.

'What did I just say, mother?' Aoife said angrily.

'I will see the visitor in a second!' Artorius said, impersonating Aoife's voice.

'Exactly, so would you please…' Aoife spun around, and came face to face with Artorius.

'Surprise!' he exclaimed, a stupid grin across his face and arms outstretched. Aoife blinked twice, trying to take in who is in front of her. She looked up and down Artorius, who is trying to hold his pose. In end Aoife turned back around before saying.

'You haven't been writing to me…' she said, pretending to sound spiteful. Artorius felt his face burn up slightly.

'I've been busy.' He said quietly. Aoife didn't even look over her shoulder, and carried on preparing the meal.

'Doing?' she asked.

'Mercenary work.'

'Constantly? For two whole months?' she said, the teasing in her voice getting progressively more prominent. Artorius was completely stumped for excuses, and crossed his arms, feeling uncomfortable with the situation. Aoife tried to hide her smile; she loved teasing Artorius, probably because he made it so easy.

'Yeah, I'm sorry.' Artorius finally managed croak.

_Great, nice one Artorius_.

Aoife gave out a small giggle before turning around, and locking Artorius in her embrace.

'You're just a big soft sap, aren't you? Of course I'm happy to see you!' She said while hugging Artorius tightly. Artorius sighed quietly to himself, and hugged her back. 'You've got a lot of explaining to do though.' Aoife said as she laughed. 'You're staying over for the night, right?' she sincerely asked. Artorius nodded his head. 'Well, its meals then bed, you can talk to me all tomorrow before we leave.'

'You're going back to Shor's Stone?' Artorius asked. Aoife let out a sigh. She obviously disliked the notion.

'I don't want to go back, I want to explore, you know, see the world. Take jobs, kill things and… oh crap!' Aoife scurried over to the cooking pot, and inspected the food. 'Alright, it's nearly ready, could you help me out?'

'You? Needing help? That's a first.' Artorius laughed, before receiving a sharp slap to the back of the head.

* * *

The next morning, Artorius helped the family to pack the carriage, and paying the carriage driver for their expenses. 'You all take care of yourselves.' Artorius said as he said his good-byes.

'Like wise, you take care of yourself, Artorius' Shauna said while nodding and smiling. Aoife was not looking too happy, but still put on a smile for their sake. Artorius was the first one to set off, while the others took the other exit, and went their separate ways.

'Artorius, wait up!' a voice called out from behind. Artorius spun around and saw Aoife running up to him.

'I'm coming with you.' She panted. She wasn't sure what he'd say, but a simple 'Okay' was definitely not one of them. 'R-really?' she asked, slightly startled.

'Yeah, what were you expecting?'

'I was…' Aoife began, but stopped, blinked twice, before continuing. 'Never mind.' The two continued onwards, happy to be together again, ready to face the challenges Skyrim throws at them.

* * *

**A.N.**

**Really tempted to rewrite all of the first arc, since looking back now, It makes me think that some illiterate 10 year old wrote it. Need convincing!**

**Not much like.**


	21. The Old Gods Cometh Chapter 2

'…so then I said 'Oh boy, oh boy, looks like it's gonna be one of those dog days!'' he exclaimed, laughing at his own joke. Aoife didn't find it funny.

Not one bit.

'Get it? 'cause werewolves are dogs, and…' Artorius began.

'I get it, it's just not funny.' Aoife cut in before lying down on the grass. Artorius tried to ask why, but folded his arms in defeat. 'But, I am glad you haven't changed.'

Artorius smiled as he looked at the stars twinkling above him, the twin moons had bright faces tonight as they stared down on the pair of wanderers.

'So, what have you been up to, short-stack?' Artorius asked without looking away from the sky.

'What did you just call me?' Aoife said, sitting up quickly.

'Short-stack, 'cause yer short.' Artorius repeated before laughing, which was cut short by a punch to a gut.

'Well, you're just freakishly tall!' Aoife retorted. Artorius blinked before answering.

'You just hit me.' He said while staring coldly.

'So what! You're not going to cry now are you?' Aoife said while pouting playfully. Artorius growled before pushing Aoife onto the grass, laughing at her turning a cute shade of pink.

Not tolerating his mocking laugh, Aoife pushed of the ground and attempted to knock over the laughing half-daedra back, only for her hands to be caught with alarming speed, and found herself held to the ground, arms either side to her head.

'I win.' Artorius declared while letting go of her, going back to his laughing fit, leaving Aoife speechless, and sulking on the grass.

'D'awww, come here…' Artorius remarked after seeing Aoife's defeated face, and pulled her up by her shoulders. 'There you go, happy now?' He teased before looking into the fire.

A silence ran between the two.

'Sooo… are you gonna tell me what you've been up to?' Artorius asked, chin resting on hand, legs crossed like a kid eager to hear the story.

'Oh, well, nothing much.' Aoife replied. 'Hunting with Pa every so often was probably the most exciting thing that has happened to me.' She peered up towards the sky, hugging her shins. 'I mean, compared to that crazy adventure we had, everything just seemed…dull.'

Artorius smiled at the mention of that adventure months back. 'Yeah, it had its ups and downs, I mean; the tomb wasn't a great experience.'

Aoife straightened up, and leaned ever so slightly closer. 'What were… what were the ups?' she eagerly asked.

'Oh, well, I thought the dragon fight was a definite up, and the fight in the tomb was pretty good too.' Artorius answered with little care in his voice. Aoife felt her heart sank, and turned away towards the fire.

'…I suppose meeting you was the best 'up'.' Artorius admitted while looking at Aoife through the corner of his eye, watching Aoife's face beam up again. 'Well, minus the crossbow incident.'

'Well, now I know how to shut you up.' Aoife pointed out, looking into Artorius eyes. Turning his head towards her, he fixed his gaze on her own. Almost immediately, her ears and cheeks felt hot, her stomach felt fluttery. His gaze was so calm, so relaxed, yet she could see something else, something intense, but comforting. It was the strangest felling in the world. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't turn away from him. She wanted to-

'Well, time to get to sleep.' He spoke before lying down on his bed roll. At the mention of sleep, and the broken gaze, Aoife yawned with drowsiness.

'Right…' she said, before wishing him good night, and closing her eyes, and falling into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

I am getting sick of this. Considering she was all he ever wondered about, Master is not doing a great job at telling her. The tension is strong enough to pull a tree over. I wish they'd just get it on already.

'I miss her.' He said. 'I wonder how she is doing.' He said. Gah, it's sickening. I need something to occupy me.

…Oh right, I can't move. Curse this body! Night-watch it is then.

…

…

Agh! Something to look at that's mildly interesting, anything! Trees? No, to bland and skinny. The sky? No, my field of vision cannot go that high. What about my other face?

…More trees. Oh wait! A rock.

…Ok, now I am bored looking at it.

Agh, anything else?

Oh, I suppose these two are mildly interesting to look at. Master is stretched out on his bed roll, nothing out of the ordinary there.

What about the lady? Hmm, sleeping soundly, and curled up, unlike Master.

Hmm, with fair skin, red hair and a rather pretty face, I can see why Master likes her. She is a most attractive female specimen. Intelligence to boot, to. She is a Breton, after all, so, it's to be expected.

Hrm? Movement?

…No, probably a bird ruffling in the trees.

Anyhow, back to this new companion. Smart, pretty and quite strong. I am glad master has found an able companion.

Although, I am the better one.

Humans and elves can turn at any time, betraying their closest is not unheard of. Not unlike me, I could never betray my wielder.

Hrm, time will tell with her, I suppose.

…Ok, I defiantly saw another movement in the trees, let's see.

Oh, it looks… vaguely humanoid, and are those…red eyes?

Red eyes. What creature or race has red eyes?

Hrm, I assume it's a Dunmer.

Ah yes, the Dunmer. The proud race native to Morrowind, the mutated brethren to the Chimer. They make fantastic warriors, mages and workers. Some are even proficient enough to become trained assassins or…

Oh.

Oh dear, oh dear.

'Master! Artorius!'

Gah, naught but a groan.

'You! Woman!'

Not even a murmur from this one.

Is that… poison? On that arrow?

'Artorius! Awaken!'

By the Nine, nothing gets these idiots up.

'Aoife! Up!'

I not even sure if I said that name right.

No response.

Ah, now he has nocked the arrow!

_Ohnoohnoohno-_

Oh well, there is nothing else I can do.

Here goes nothing…

Three, two, one…

* * *

'AGHHHHHHHHHHH! GETUPGETUPGETUP!'

In an instant, Artorius had leaped out of bed and had Retribution in both of his hands, and was staring right at a pair of red eyes.

'Whatthefuckwasthat!' Aoife shouted while bolting up right.

'Agh bastard and his stupid sword…' a voice came from above. 'Agh, no problem. You're still tired and groggy; I'll be done with this in a heartbeat.' The assassin hissed before landing the grass with a thud.

'You've been dogging my heels for a while now, haven't you?' Artorius replied through a grin.

'Hrm, I would have killed you sooner, where it not for that visit to the girl's family home.'

Aoife moved forward crossbow, in hand.

'Don't worry, it's not in my contract.' The assassin said while raising his hand. 'Only this…demon is.'

Aoife glanced at Artorius with a worried look.

'Don't interfere.' He said while shaking his head. In a flash, the adversary had draw two jagged, rather savage looking swords from his back.

_Daedric, I need to watch myself._

Without warning, the assassin had the gap between them within a heart beat, and slashed, and filled the air with a flurry of slashes.

Despite wielding a blade twice the size and weight of the assassin's, Artorius was blocking every blow with astonishing dexterity. Unfortunately, his tiredness was handicapping his abilities substantially.

_He's too fast! I've got to do something else._

Countering another blow, Artorius swung Retribution above his head, splitting the air and ground with great speed, but the assassin was still far to fast, and, despite getting one of his swords smashed, he landed a successful hit, slashing the warrior's arm open.

_Agh, that stings like a bitch!_

Through the corner of his eye, he could see Aoife taking aim at the Dunmer.

'No!' Artorius shouts. 'Don't interfere!' he repeated. 'Besides…' he grunted as he got back onto his feet. 'Now it's getting to the fun part.'

'Only one arm is working, yet you still fight?' the dark elf snorted. 'Just means you'll die in pain.'

With a shout the Dunmer attacked again with a vertical hack, but this time, it was Artorius who landed the blow, and struck the elf in the side with the flat of his blade. Aoife heard the sickening _crack_ of ribs being crushed. The assassin howled in pain, but still managed to crawl back to his feet.

'For a hired killer, you're not very good at your job.' Artorius laughed, still managing to stand.

'N'Wah!' the Dunmer exclaimed. With that shout, he burst into flames and sprinted at Artorius. The glare of the flames momentarily blinded him, allowing the Dunmer to stab him in the knee, forcing him down.

'It ends here!' the flaming Dunmer exclaimed. To the Dunmer, victory was assured when his blade reached the Nord's head. To Aoife, the world seemed to slow, and her finger got itchy with idleness.

To Artorius, this was all part of his plan. He watched as the savage blade ripped the air as it descended.

_Wait for it…_

The sword was less then a hairs length away from his skull now.

_Gotcha._

With a swift sidestep, the daedric sword landed into the mud with little threat.

'Wha-'

Aoife recoiled slightly when she heard the horrible _snap _of the head leaving the spine. The dunmer's puzzled look remained even after his head landed onto the grass.

The young Breton's gaze was shifted to Artorius after he sat on the ground clutching his arm. 'Artorius!' she gasped while rushing over to him.

'Bag…' he groaned 'Get the bag.' Scurrying over, Aoife dragged the bag across the floor. 'Should be some strips of cloth, a silver bottle and an orange one.'

In a flash, Aoife was holding all the things that Artorius requested. 'Ok, now what?' she asked.

'Put some of the silver stuff on a strip.'

She did.

'Put a single drop of the orange stuff onto the strip, and then scrunch it up tightly.'

After a few seconds of rubbing and scrunching the cloth, Aoife opened her hands to reveal a yellow stained rag that opened like a budding flower.

'Alright, now what?' she asked, breathing becoming steady.

'Oh, well that's not right at all.' Artorius said while scratching his temple. Aoife groaned and was about to toss the rag aside.

'Hey, hey! I was joking!' Artorius quickly shouted before laughing.

'You…' Aoife began, but instead just slapped the wound that she was trying to mend, making the six foot tall, half-daedra warrior to squeal in pain like a girl.

After tying the strip of yellow cloth around his arm too hard 'accidently', Aoife began on his knee.

'Oh, it's alright, I can do the knee.' Artorius said.

'I'll do it.' Aoife insisted.

'Let me, I don't like-'

'No, I'm doing it.' Aoife snapped. Artorius swallowed a come back, and sat on the grass. 'I don't like standing on the side lines, watching helplessly you know.'

'I was helping you.' Artorius answered. 'You were tired, and your reactions slow down. That guy could have closed the gap between you in no time, and besides, even if you had enough distance. Your drowsiness could have made your shot miss.' He explained, eyes closed and arms crossed.

Aoife felt red with anger, was he mocking her?

'Don't take it the wrong way.' Artorius said, as if he could read her mind. 'When you're awake, it's an entirely different story.' The red head could feel an embarrassed smile creep up onto her face.

'Quick, smart and damn accurate. I mean, you shot a dragon in the _eye, _while it was _flying! _I could have never had done that.' He continued. 'So, I'm not putting you down short-stack, I'm just making a fact.'

Aoife tried to hide her smile with her knees.

'Eugh, I should really move that body.' Artorius groaned while carrying the body across his shoulders, the assassins head in his hand, held by the hood. Crawling over to her bed roll, she curled up with the covers to her neck.

Slowly she started to fall asleep, and it wasn't until she heard Artorius return that she truly fell asleep, with the stars, moons and a certain sword watching over them again.

* * *

'Grgh, someone blow that candle out…!' the half-daedra moaned.

'Good luck blowing the sun out.' a voice replied. Artorius groaned before sitting up, eyes half shut. 'Good morning.' Aoife said sweetly while passing him some food, to which he gratefully accepted. 'Oh, I have been meaning to ask, about last night…'

'Go on.' Artorius said while munching on a piece of chicken.

'…You didn't scream when you woke up, right?' she asked. Her eyes winced even more so when she noticed Artorius' sudden change of expressions.

'Uh, yeah, that was all me.' He said while smiling sheepishly. A swift hand snatched his meal from his own hands. 'Why did you-'

'Now, I am no expert on half-daedra Ok, but I'm pretty sure you cannot scream _without opening your mouth._' She said with a sly smile.

'Well, you were tired, so you mustn't have seen my mouth move, now gimme back…' he feebly tried to grasp his last piece of food, Aoife was to quick, and swapped hands.

'I need a straight answer.' Aoife demanded.

'Yeah and I need my food, so gimme!' Artorius said standing up suddenly, reaching out for the last scrap of cheese.

'I want an answer!' Aoife shouted.

'Tough shit, I want my-'

'ENOUGH! For the love of the many gods, shut-up!' A voice cut into the argument. The pair immediately turned their wide eyed faces towards the source.

'I do not get you two.' Retribution began, amusement devoid in its voice. 'One minute you're happy, rolling over each other, laughing like little children. The next, you're shouting at each other, and generally getting on my nerves!'

The duo just stared at him blankly.

'If you must know, it was me who awoke you in the night.' The sword 'sighed'.

More silence. Until…

'Wait, you don't…' Aoife began slightly unnerved by the swords gaze. '…Watch me while I sleep do you?'

'Well, yes.' The sword answered no care in his voice.

'That's…that's weird, I said not to do that.' Artorius interrupted after successfully retrieving his piece of cheese.

'That's horrible, eugh.' Aoife added, shuddering at the thought.

'…Actually, when you put it that way, I feel sort of dirty now.' Retribution pondered. 'Ah, but where I my manners, my name is Retribution.'

'Oh, um…' Aoife stammered, and held out her hand.

'Oh, ha-ha, very funny.' Retribution laughed sarcastically.

'Yeah, that was really cruel on the poor guy.' Artorius butted in, retrieving his armour and swords.

'It was an accident, I didn't mean to…' Aoife said while snatching her hand away.

'Suuuure, it was.' Artorius sneered childishly. Aoife growled before pushing the Nord out of the way and making her way towards Markarth.

'I think we've hurt her feelings.' Retribution pointed out.

'Naw, she'll be fine in minute. Before you know it, she'll be insulting me again.' Artorius reassured the sword before following her. Throughout the journey, the red haired Breton kept a very close eye on the sword.

Unbeknownst to her, the sword was also keeping a very, very close eye on her.


End file.
